Star-Crossed Hearts
by Chocobro
Summary: When an ex-mercenary and a flower girl have a chance meeting in the streets of Radiant Garden, a new adventure begins for the two. An evil turmoil arises within their world, forcing them to fight to keep hope alive...but even the deepest darkness is not enough to keep star-crossed hearts apart. Clerith. Squinoa. Begins during Birth by Sleep and continues through Kingdom Hearts III.
1. Remember

**STAR-CROSSED HEARTS**

 **Chapter One – Remember**

The flower girl made her way through the reconstruction zone that trailed along the town's outer wall of her childhood home of Radiant Garden. As the setting sun cast a golden glow over the castle and the vast mountains and valleys that encircled far around it, the flower girl moved closer to the crumbled stone wall that separated the castle and the town from the rest of the dangers that lurked within the outside world.

Aerith knelt alongside the wall and closely examined the flowers that bloomed from within the stone cracks of the wall and ground.

'Just as resilient as I remember,' she thought to herself with a small smirk, before she gingerly picked a few from the ground and placing them in the brown wicker basket that dangled delicately from her arm.

As far back as she could remember, she had always loved flowers and made it her personal responsibility to oversee the care of all of the flowers that blossomed in and around Radiant Garden. When she was just a young girl, there had been a great divide within Radiant Garden, an outbreak of violence, which claimed many lives and brought sadness to their small world. Even at such a young age, Aerith saw how the flowers she had taken care of brought hope and happiness back to the people of Radiant Garden, even in the darkest of times they had faced. If her daily efforts resulted in the smiles of her friends and townspeople, then all her hard work was worth it.

Even as a young adult, she had now become known as the flower girl of Radiant Garden and took great pride in her work, in her efforts to restore the light and happiness to her town.

She continued plucking the flowers from the earth and placing them in her basket, before she retrieved a specific yellow and white carnation that brought a memory back to her mind.

'Yep, just like I remember,' Aerith thought with a small hopeful smile, before she placed the flower in her basket and stood up, content that she gathered her carnation supply for the following day.

She let out a sigh after another day and looked off towards the descending, jagged rocks and valleys that stretched from the landing which she stood and down towards the outer edges of their world, where the castle ruins of Maleficent's domain stood.

Not quite willing to return home just yet, Aerith slowly trailed down the mountainous path that circled down into a ravine. It was far too often that her friends would warn and discourage her to travel on her own, or at least she thought, as she knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

Still, with the Heartless crawling about and unknown dangers in the world, she understood why the friends she had made her family felt as cautious as they did.

It wasn't long before the ravine had reached its' edge and opened into a large mountain landing that overlooked Maleficent's castle. Her brown boots lightly stepped along the dark bluish stone, as she went closer to the cliff's edge. Carefully, she set her basket down and went to sit at the edge of the cliff, her feet dangling over the side, high above the bottom of the gorge below.

She flattened out the creases in her pink dress as her mind continued to wander along with the setting sun. Truth be told, her life in Radiant Garden was very much the same as it was before her whole adventure had truly begun and yet, something was different. Something was missing.

She took a deep breath and laid back, lying against the cold stone surface as she looked up at the orange, pinkish sky.

'How many days has it been since you left?' She thought to herself with a small pout, 'It seems like too many to count now…'

She couldn't help but think of the blonde-haired soldier that had left their world sometime ago, to battle against the great darkness within him. Whenever she had come down here, which was nearly every day now, she always thought of _him_ and _remembered_ the moments they shared together when they still had them.

Now, he was gone and memories were all they had.

Aerith closed her eyes, "When will you find your way back?"

"Hiya!" A cheery voice called out behind her, "I knew I'd find you down here. Whatcha doing?"

The flower girl raised herself up and turned back to her friend, "Just the usual."

"Man, you're coming down here every day now," Yuffie said, walking up to the edge of the cliff. "You must be getting pretty antsy with him gone."

"That's a bit of an understatement," Aerith sighed and let out a small chuckle. "I believe in him. I know he'll succeed and he'll be back here. I just…can't wait til he is." She patted the spot of earth next to her, welcoming her friend to sit.

"He'll be back soon, Aerith," Yuffie said, sitting down next to her friend. "Believe me, that spiky-headed fool isn't gonna give up so easily, especially when he knows you're waiting here for him."

"Thanks, Yuffie," the flower girl smiled and appreciated the small conversation that filled the would-have-been silent afternoon.

Aerith always appreciated whenever Yuffie came around to cheer her up, take her mind off other things or even just be someone to talk to when she needed it. Aerith had known Yuffie ever since she was a baby and was even partly responsible for her, Yuffie and Leon now all living under the same roof with Cid, now living as a sort of family tied together by unfortunate fates. Yuffie was like a younger sister to her, with Leon as their protective, sometimes excessively so, older brother.

Then, there was Cid, who, even with his crass and rough attitude, his 'sometimes' hard-to-get-along-with tendencies and his ability to string together a sentence with only using expletives, he had become like a foster father to them, a title which he would never openly adopt as it always made him feel much older than the savvy tech pilot was. Still, he took them in and looked after them ever since they were kids and the rest was history.

Over the past decade and a half, the four of them had grown together as a family, those there for one another in the best and worst of times in all that life had to throw at them.

"You know, we should bet getting back soon or Leon will have a fit," Yuffie said, turning to Aerith. "Nighttime seems to be the worst for the town. More Heartless seem to spring up then."

"Hm, strange," Aerith commented, placing a finger to her chin. "I haven't seen a single one all day."

"Good!" The ninja said with a cheery smile, "That means Sora, Donald and Goofy must be doing their job off wherever they've gone to! Who knows? Maybe soon enough, the darkness will be a thing of the past."

"We could only hope," Aerith said with a smile. "It seems like a life without the darkness…would have changed everything. Our world would have never been destroyed. We never would have met Sora and the others."

"And we never would have been to any of the other worlds we'd been to," Yuffie nodded.

"I suppose not," Aerith said with a smile, before it slowly faltered. "But…he'd still be here."

Yuffie opened her mouth to say something else, but she never did, unsure of what to say. The flower girl was right, after all. Without the darkness, it was likely that Aerith and the soldier never would have had to spend all this time apart from one another.

Aerith brought her knees up to her chest and sighed, resting her chin and arms over them. "It's okay. I'll be okay. I just have to stop thinking about how life could have been and start appreciating things how they are now." She flashed a small smile to her friend.

"Yeah. You're always the one to be optimistic at times like this, Aerith," Yuffie nodded and patted her friend on the shoulder. "Think of it this way, maybe without the darkness, you never would have met him in the first place."

Aerith raised her eyebrows and chuckled, "I guess I never thought of it that way before. When you put it like that, the waiting doesn't seem so dreadful now," she finished with a laugh.

"Exactly!" Yuffie cheered in a sing-song voice. "You have all the memories of the two of you together to remind you why you're here waiting for him."

Aerith nodded and smiled, "I know. I can remember the first time I saw him, as if…it were just yesterday…I remember it all so well."

Yuffie leaned back on her palms and turned to face towards her friend, "Maybe talking about it will make you feel better, Aer."

The flower girl gave a small chuckle and nodded, reaching back into her memory to the first time she saw the blonde soldier in the streets of Radiant Garden. She remembered every moment, ever detail so vividly, as the memory played through her mind. A smile stretched across her face when she reached into her flower basket.

The ninja watched as the flower girl retrieved a single yellow and white carnation from her basket.

Aerith turned to her friend, gently smiling down at the beautiful flower at her fingertips.

"It all began…with a flower."

* * *

 _\- Before the fall of Radiant Garden -_

The flower girl slowly opened her eyes, staring at the flowers that had blossomed over one of the walls in an alleyway that led between a section of the town's marketplace. She lifted herself up, flower basket in hand, and made her way down the shadowed alley and out into the open space of the market, where several townspeople were making their way through the shops and carts along the busy center.

She went to the stone wall at the edge of the market that overlooked the rest of the town and the castle before them.

The castle had belonged to a wise man named Ansem, who ruled over all of Radiant Garden. The wise man, as he was called by his people, was almost like a mystery, an enigma of sorts. It wasn't ever clearly distinguished how he gained his position of authority over Radiant Garden, but he was widely respected, regardless. It wasn't very often he was ever seen, either. Aerith, along with many others, had only ever heard of the man through spoken word. When he did make his presence known in the town, he was usually surrounded by the castle guard or his apprentices, making interaction with the wise ruler nothing short of impossible.

Aerith squinted her eyes and looked down at the castle postern from the landing, which was the one section of the town where one could spy on the proceedings happening outside of the castle. From what she could see, some of the castle guards had gathered there.

Dilan and Aeleus, two of the castle guards originally sworn in by Ansem himself, stood at the castle postern, impatiently waiting for their new guard arrivals to come.

"Where are the new recruits?" Dilan raised an eyebrow, turning to Aeleus. "They should have been here already."

Aeleus grunted, "If their tardiness is any indication of their job performance, I'm not impressed."

"Whoaaaa, hold on there, fool!" A uniformed guard arrived up the castle steps and called out to the two others. The man had dark skin and uneven black beard patched across his chin which seemed to blend directly up into his hair. From the man's burly, large figure, his guard uniform compressed down around him, making it look like he could rip it to shreds with a quick, misguided move. He gave a confident smirk from the corner of his lips, "Don't go countin' me out just yet!"

"You're late," Dilan replied blandly, almost uninterested in the new recruit.

"Tell me somethin' I don't know, ya damn numbskull," the new man said. "I was readyin' myself for the first day on the job."

"Temper your excitement. We're doing thorough surveillance over the town, nothing more," Aeleus said, rolling his eyes and scoffing at the recruit's eagerness over a small job.

"Yeah, well whatever, man. Small job, but I'mma do it best," the burly man said, before raising his arm into the air. Most noticeable about the man, in place of where his hand should have been, was an artillery gun grafted in its' place.

"Most interesting," Aelelus examined the man's replaced hand. "With advanced weaponry like that, perhaps I could understand why Ansem selected you to defend the town."

"Ah, this thing?" The man said, looking down at his arm, "Thing can take out damn near anything in a single hit. Ain't nothin' messin' with me and gettin' away for it, that's for damn sure, boys!" The man said before letting out a boisterous laugh.

"What's your name," Dilan asked.

The man gave a cheeky smile, "Barret Wallace – best gunman this town'll ever see!"

"Quite confident. We'll see…" Aeleus smirked. "Well, welcome to our team. It won't be easy tasks ahead of you, but someone willing to get their hands…hand dirty is a welcome change."

Barret looked between the two men, "So, why's Ansem bringin' in more of us into his guard? Seems like you two can get the job done well enough."

Dilan sighed and shook his head, "We could…once, but things are 'changing' in our small town."

"Changin'?" Barret asked, "Changin' how?"

"The peaceful and bright existence of our Radiant Garden is slowly becoming a thing of the past," Aeleus confided. "The town's growing more dangerous every day – new threats are slowly making themselves known to Ansem. He'll do anything to protect his world, even at great costs."

Dilan nodded, "But that is a matter to discuss once our final late arrival decides to grace us with his presence."

"Shoulda been here long ago. And y'all thought I was late!" Barret laughed, "Where's that fool at anyway?"

"Right here."

The three men turned to see the final recruit make his way up the castle path and approach them. Clad in a royal uniform just like all of theirs, the man had a huge sword strapped along his back. He had piercing blue eyes, remarkable and unlike any other, with a spiky head of blonde hair that somehow seemed both just slightly messy, yet well put together.

"Took ya time, didn't ya?" Barret called out to the man, "Never show up late for the job on the first day, spiky!"

"From what I could hear, you were no better," the blonde replied with a cocky smirk.

"Ooh, you damn cold, aren't ya," Barret shook his head. "But just so happens I know how to handle a cold, empty-headed, spike-ass like yourself!"

"Nice to meet you, too," the blonde soldier replied dryly with a hint of sarcasm, before turning to face the other two. "Sorry for being so late."

"Just don't make a habit out of it. Understood?" Aeleus said, "Now that we're all here, we could continue with what we were telling your new comrade."

Dilan continued, "Ansem has scouted you and other new recruits for the castle guard to join in our efforts to keep our town safe and protected. He believes with more positions filled, it will be an easier task for all of us. Though, he's too aware of the troubles that dwell in the shadows of our world."

"Well, that sounds damn ominous," Barret replied.

"What 'dangers'," the blonde asked.

Aelelus turned from the group then and faced the castle, pointing upwards towards it. "Ansem and his apprentices have been quite busy as of late, tirelessly researching late into the night about the studies of the 'heart' and many other things. They've remained quite silent about their proceedings and findings. One can only assume what they're up to."

The blonde crossed his arms and looked up at the castle, "And something's gone wrong?"

Dilan tilted his head, "Yes, but unrelated to Ansem. These new…dark creatures have started to appear within the town just over the past couple of days. Surely you've seen them?"

The two new recruits looked at each other before shaking their heads. Barret pouted his lips and thought, "I ain't seen nothin' outta the ordinary. At least I think not."

"What are these…'dark creatures'," the soldier asked. "I haven't seen anything of the sort, either."

Dilan crossed his arms, "Hm, not surprising. They've slowly been emerging and only a few sightings have been reported. Just the other day while at the castle garden, Ansem and his apprentices had gathered and while there, these dark creatures had emerged, as if they came out of nowhere. The apprentices managed to subdue the beings and took one back to their lab for observation and what they'd uncovered was truly discomforting for our town."

Aeleus closed his eyes and nodded, "They are called 'The Unversed' – creatures born from darkness that feed off anger and negativity. It's unknown why they've only started to appear now or where they've come from."

"Creatures born…from darkness…," the blonde thought out loud, thinking about this new information. "It doesn't sound like something that could be destroyed so easily."

"We thought the same," Dilan said. "That's why we are going to try and do our best to keep the creatures at bay while we can, providing they don't began to pose more of a threat to Radiant Garden. If the sightings to continue to grow more frequent, it won't be long before they make their way towards the town."

Aeleus finished, "And if any of the townspeople were hurt by this…'darkness' under Ansem's authority, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself."

Barret nodded, understandingly, "Well, no worries, guys! You got us now. So, whaddya want us to do to help!?"

Dilan looked at Aeleus first before turning back to the new recruits, "Simple. Your first task as new members of our squad is to keep a close eye on the town today, making sure none of these new creatures pose a threat."

"And if they do," Aeleus finished, "…dispose of them before any harm is done. Clear enough?"

"Crystal clear. We got it covered," Barret said.

"Dilan and I will keep close watch over the castle grounds and the parameters within. Remember, not much is known about these 'Unversed', but I wouldn't take them lightly," Aeleus said. "We'll meet back here at sunset and report on our findings, if any."

"Understood," the new recruits said in unison.

Aeleus and Dilan turned from them and began towards the grand castle doors at the front of the large fortress. Aeleus turned back to the two and called out to the blonde soldier, "By the way, didn't catch your name."

The blonde smirked and nodded, "Strife. Cloud Strife."

"Good to have you in our squad, Cloud," Aeleus finished, before turning back.

"Try and make up for your lateness," Diland continued forward and rolled his eyes. "Please, do something to impress us…." He and Aeleus left then.

Cloud's lips thinned and he smirked, "…okay then."

"So, Strife is it, huh?" Barret said, looking down at the shorter soldier with a wry smile. "Mind if I call you 'Spike'?"

Cloud squinted in thought and scratched the back of his head, "It sounds a little…'too much fun' sounding. You can call me Cloud."

"Nah, I'm gonna call you Spike," Barret quickly compromised. "And you can call me Barret."

"Right," Cloud nodded and motioned to move towards the steps that led down away from the castle and towards the town. "Well, Barret, let's get going."

Barret trailed behind the soldier, continuing light conversation as they walked. He figured if he was gonna be assigned to this day-long task with this newbie, might as well try to make it as entertaining as he could. "Hey man, if you don't like Spike I could think of something else. Spikehead-ass, spike-ass, spikeyfool-ass, dumbass-"

"You know what, they all sound good," Cloud cut him off and replied sarcastically. "I think I found a good name for you, too."

"Ahhh! Really, what is it," Barret asked, excitedly.

"Smartass," Cloud said, before walking away from Barret.

Barret let out a loud laugh, brushing off the soldier's comment like it was a fleck of dust. "Ahh, I knew there was a sense of humor somewhere down there under that cold armor! Looks like this is a good beginnin' to a wonderful friendship!"

"Sure…" Cloud said back with a smirk.

The two new comrades traveled down the grand steps that went from the castle's courtyard and led down into the gated gardens at the base of the castle at its' side. From there, there was a narrow bridge that led over a small moat that went to the tall stone wall that surrounded the castle ground. As the two traveled down the zig-zagging paths that led through the garden, they noticed the beautiful flowers, trees and flora that grew and blossomed throughout the garden. Every flower, ever carnation petal seemed more vibrant and unlike any other type found outside the castle grounds. It seemed almost ethereal, otherworldly and majestic – entirely different than what the rest of the town felt like.

Once the two reached the bottom of the descending ramp, Barret turned back Cloud, "So, what dragged you into this business?"

"Hm?" Cloud questioned, slightly taken aback when he'd been spoken to.

"I mean, how'd you get involved with bein' part of Ansem's guard," Barret re-phrased his question.

"Oh," Cloud thought for a moment, scratching the back of his head as he thought. "Well, I guess we never crossed paths then…which is probably a good thing."

"Fraid not, Spike," Barret said.

The twenty-one year old soldier continued down through the garden, "Hm, well, when I think back, the last few years have been a little hazy, but I've lived in this town as long as I can remember. Before this, I worked as a mercenary doing anything I could really just to scrape up whatever extra cash I could get…which usually meant I was being paid to chase after and take care of some of the more 'unsavory' characters our town has to offer."

"You got that straight," Barret said. "The East District where I live is a real slum compared to the resta the town. Could use some real cleanin' up, people-wise."

"Anyway, I'd spent a few years doing that gig and training myself in combat. They sort of worked hand in hand together," Cloud said with a small laugh. "Before I knew it, I received a letter with Ansem's royal seal on it…and well, I ended up here. When I saw the amount of munny I'd be walking away with, I couldn't necessarily say 'no' so easily."

Barret laughed, "Ain't it the truth. Ansem might be one elusive guy, but when it comes to keeping his people safe, he'll pay well to get the job done."

Cloud nodded and remained quiet. Truth be told, he felt slightly unnerved after talking so much. It was the first time he really spoke about himself…ever, let alone to someone who was more or less a stranger. He just felt strange and awkward; it was a big difference for him to be saying much about himself, let alone anything at all.

He figured it'd probably be best to change the subject. He was never quite fond of drawing attention to himself. "So, how 'bout you? How'd you get here?" His eyes then wandered down to the man's grafted gun arm. "And how did…you, erm, well…get th-" He stopped himself when he realized what he was going to ask about the man's hand might be too much of a sensitive, personal topic.

"AH! Well, aren't ya just the nosy type!?" Barret said, pumping his gun arm into the air. He stared coldly at Cloud, his voice deepening, "Why don't you jus' mind your damn business if ya know what's good for ya."

Cloud sighed and rolled his eyes, disappointed if he upset someone. "No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend y-"

"SPIKE, ya gullible ass! I'm jus' messin with you," Barret said, letting out a big laugh that echoed through the garden. "Man, you can't take things so seriously all the time…"

"It's how I am," Cloud shrugged.

Barret shook his head, "Anyway, I'm a lot like you, been livin' in this place forever and did whatever I could to keep on livin'. It was about fifteen years ago when I got this gun-arm after I lost my hand when I was a fighter defendin' the town in the Garden War."

The Garden War was a time of great upheaval for Radiant Garden, as the townspeople found themselves clashing with one another based on their social standing. At the time, the eastern and southern districts of the town were like run-down slums, occupied by the poor and those barely scraping by – barely able to live. On the opposite side of town, the northern and western districts were filled with nicer buildings, shops and restaurants – a nice area to live to those who had the munny to do so, of course.

There was a clear divide of social classes throughout the town – a divide which soon escalated to hatred, which then escalated to violent action. The lower class of the town felt injustice for the upper class who led easier, privileged lives where they'd never understand the daily struggles of those who could barely afford to eat. The upper class felt as though the lower class was draining the 'radiance' from their town and felt as though they had no place amongst Radiant Garden, even if they were secluded off to their own districts.

Soon enough, Radiant Garden didn't seem as radiant as it once was.

Slowly, violence began to break out, crimes were committed, burglary and theft ensued, people from both classes began to fight and before anyone knew it, the town became entirely unsafe for anyone and a war between the classes broke out sending defenders out to try and keep as many as they could safe. Many innocent lives were lost and the casualties were heart-wrenching. In nearly the past two decades, the town had been restored for the most part and the divide within social classes had become a thing of the past. It seemed as though the people of Radiant Garden had learned a lesson from their mistakes, though, even now, a few bad seeds still managed to slip through the cracks in town.

Barret let out a small laugh, "Though, you probably don't remember much about that war. You musta only been a kid back then."

"Yeah…" Cloud said quietly. "I was six."

"I fought to defend the town, but I lost my hand in the process," Barret said, shaking his head. "I do whatever I can to make our town a better place, but man, I gotta tell ya, sometimes the world we live in could be a real messed up place, man. People just fightin' and killin' each other over nothin'. Like they need to fight somethin' cuz they don't know how to jus' be happy." He sighed sadly, "Real messed up, y'know."

Cloud nodded, understandingly. "And…that's why you're one of Ansem's guards now, too, isn't it?"

"You got it," Barret said with a smile. "I'm gonna do anythin' I can to keep my town safe from anythin' that wants to cause it harm. Was like that fifteen years ago and I'm still the same way now."

Cloud looked over at Barret, almost confused. The heart inside Barret seemed to be a completely different fit than what Cloud expected. The blonde solider expected Barret to be the type to totally annihilate anything in his path, only care about his well-being and not give a damn about what happened to the world. Now, he felt like how he pictured Barret…would have better described _himself_. When Cloud came to the self-realization of how he behaved, he'd honestly felt sad and guilty for being so selfish and thinking about more than just himself or munny.

Cloud sighed, "That's pretty brave of you, to keep putting your life on the line to protect the town."

Barret nodded, "Well, it's what my heart tells me to do. I just want a better place for all us to live in one day in the future, someday at least. I don't give a damn 'bout the munny. See, that's the difference between you and I, Spike. I actually care 'bout what the hell happens to this damn place."

"You think I don't care," Cloud asked, almost softly.

"I think you care 'bout the munny." Barret said with a half-smile. "You gotta care 'bout more than just that, Cloud. The heart isn't made for only that. It feels a lotta things, but sounds like you're missin' out."

Cloud remained silent because, honestly, everything Barret was saying to him was _true_ and _Cloud knew it._ The soldier knew then that, not only was Barret's will unbreakable, but that his heart was far more bigger than his outside could show.

"Come on," Cloud said, almost like a whisper, signaling a quiet end to their conversation.

They moved out of the garden and over the bridge that led to the tall stone castle wall. At the end of the bridge, there was a gated wall that was locked by a padlock, keeping trespassers away from the castle grounds. Retrieving a key from his guard uniform pocket, Barret unlocked the padlock and opened the gate so that the two of them could exit. Once through, he re-locked the gated wall behind him.

"Come on, let's get this town watch underway," Barret said, placing the key back in his pocket. "Yo man, you got a key, too?"

Cloud examined the several pockets of his uniform, before he found a small golden key. "Got it."

"Good, make sure you don't lose it," Barret said, as Cloud secured the key on his person. "Now then, let's hope these Unversed are behavin' themselves because messin' with me sounds like the wrong idea!"

The two moved away from the castle wall and right on the other side was the western district of the town, which was filled with small houses and shops. From the looks of things, it seemed like just another usual day in town. Nothing out of the ordinary or suspicious.

Cloud looked around, trailing a few steps further into the town past a few more buildings, "Hm, everything seems normal. No Unversed or anything."

"Gotta keep lookin'. We got a whole day of this," Barret said.

"Sounds like a whole day of finding nothing," said Cloud.

"Which sounds like easy work!" Barret cheered.

"Or boring work," said Cloud.

"Eh, whatever, man."

They made their way through the narrow alleyway between another set of buildings, which then opened to a path that brought them to a town square at the heart of a cluster of houses. The square was in one of the more residential areas of the town, just beside the castle and right off of the marketplace. The square had small patches of flower fields on all corners and was lined with trees in-between each of the buildings.

"Well, would ya look at that," Barret said, pointing his arm forward into the center of the square.

Cloud peered forward, squinting his eyes, and saw about half a dozen small, dark creatures scurry from one tree to another. The creatures were unlike anything either of them had ever seen. The skin of these creatures were so dark they almost seemed blue in color. They were small, almost like rats as they moved, but they traveled fast and in droves.

"The Unversed," Cloud breathed. "Those must be those creatures the others were talking about."

"Oh yeah!" Barret said, raising his arm and preparing his artillery for battle. "Let's get 'em before they get too far!"

"Right," Cloud said, chasing after the creatures alongside Barret.

The two quickly chased after the multiplying creatures that moved much faster than either of them expected. As they pursued them, they saw the creatures dissolve into the ground, almost like a puddle, which accelerated their agility and only helped them to move faster.

"Damn, those are some creepy, little freaks," Barret said, observing the creatures' behavior.

"What do you think drew them here," Cloud questioned, still in pursuit, as he reached for his Buster Sword.

Barret grunted as he ran after the creatures, steadying his aim. His artillery gun began charging for battle, an increasing high-pitched buzzing noise beginning to ring from the metal plates of the gun arm. "It's showtime!"

Once the two had cornered the creatures at a dead-end alleyway, Barret had opened fire on the creatures, hailing bullets through the alley like a machine gun. The bullets burst from the gun with a spark, shooting through the air directly at the target. When the string of bullets made impact with the creatures, the Unversed seemed to implode in air, disappearing into a smog of black smoke.

When the creatures had sensed the onslaught from the attackers, their purple eyes widened and their pointed ears perked up, before trying to flee the scene.

"Oh, no you don't," Cloud warned, before bringing the razor-sharp edge of his sword before him. The Buster Sword looked almost impossibly large and heavy enough for him or _anyone_ to even remotely budge, but the blonde maneuvered it through the air with ease and skill.

To the creatures that tried escaping, Cloud sliced directly through them, his blade traveling through the creatures as if they were made of air. His moves were lightning-fast and matched and matched those of even the most skilled swordsmen.

Before they knew it, each of the creatures had imploded into dark smoke, leaving the two new comrades in the alley.

"Hell yeah! That's what I'm talkin' 'bout," Barret turned to Cloud and flashed him a smug smile. "I'd say the both of us make a pretty good team!"

"Of course you do," Cloud said as he rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Man, Spike, You gotta be so damn serious all the damn time don't cha. How 'bout you let loose once in a while and learn to have some fun," Barret suggested.

"I think I'm okay," Cloud said with a shrug, as he scratched the back of his head.

In the silence of the town square now, the two turned back and walked down the alley. They stopped in their tracks when they heard another squeak, a scurrying of sorts, from what they could have only assumed were more Unversed creatures, wandering somewhere about the square.

"You hear that?" Cloud turned back to Barret with a questioning glance, still listening intently to the sound.

"Hell yeah, man," Barret said, already preparing his artillery gun.

"Looks like we got our work cut out for us," Cloud said with a smirk. "Castle guards? I get the feeling we're more like castle doormats."

Barret searched through the town square, trying to find the new creatures, "Welp, someone's gotta do the job, man, and that 'someone's' us!"

Cloud look around the square but found nothing, which was strange. The noises sounded so close. It wasn't until he lifted his eyes that he was clued in to the whereabouts of the new enemies. Traveling alongside the rooftops of the town buildings and houses opposite of them, he could make out another dozen of the small creatures leaping from rooftop to rooftop, quick and swift.

"There they are," Cloud called out. "Come on, let's go after them!"

Cloud and Barret quickly cut across the town square and ran to the base of the buildings.

"How d'ya suppose we get up there," Barret said, looking up at the rooftops.

Cloud quickly scanned the area to formulate some plane. To their luck, the building must have been some sort of shop and stacked up next to it, were a series of filled crates toppled one on top of the other. Without another word, Cloud lifted himself up onto the wooden box and slowly made his way on top of the next, followed closely behind by Barret. Within a matter of seconds, the two of them found themselves slowly scaling the building and setting foot on the rooftops.

"Now, where'd those brats go," Barret questioned.

Cloud and Barret quickly ran across the slanted rooftops, racing forward until they were stopped in their tracks. They had found the small Unversed creatures, but had lured them to something else entirely.

Standing at the edge of the rooftops stood something the two of them didn't anticipate – a huge scorpion beast.

"Damn," Barret breathed out when the creature let out a threatened roar.

The scorpion bore an Unversed insignia on the shell of its' back. It had sharp pincers and several long legs supporting it, almost like a centipede. Behind it, its' long tail whipped and looked as though it could snap someone's neck in a single blow. Worst of all, the creature seemed larger than both Cloud and Barret combined. When it let out another ferocious roar, the two of them could definitely feel a chill race down their spine.

"If we let somethin' like this wander through town, it won't be pretty," Barret asked Cloud, preparing for the battle. "Think we can take it?"

"Only one way to find out," Cloud said, charging towards the scorpion, his Buster Sword raised high above his head. The blonde leapt up into the air, raising his sword up and bringing it down hard on the scorpion's shelled back. Cloud shot a victorious glare at the beast when it let out an agonizing, pained cry…but the battle was far from over.

Not even a moment later, the scorpion charged towards the two, raising its' pincers at them, swiping and thrashing. Cloud successfully flipped backwards to dodge one of the attacks, but was met with a heavy blow to his back that sent him down to the roof top hard.

"Ugh, son of a bitch…" Cloud gritted through his teeth, as he felt a searing pain in his spine.

"Aww hell no, you ain't taking out my buddy," Barret said, pointing his gun at the creature and sending a hail of bullets down at the creature. The scorpion tried to deflect the bullets with its' claws, but it didn't hold up well given the bloodied holes in both of its' pincers. Barret's attack gave just enough time for Cloud to recover and get back up on his feet.

Cloud charged back towards the scorpion then, letting out a cry when, with a single blow from his sword, he chopped through one of the scorpion's pincers and severed it from his body. The monstrous limb clattered to the floor where it sputtered for a brief moment before becoming still.

"You got it, man," Barret cheered on his friend.

With its' limits of being threatened reached, the scorpion let out another loud roar that echoed across the town square, as it wailed its' body in the air. Slowly, it's metallic-like, almost flexible tail rose up into the air above the creature, pointing directly at the two of them. The creature shook and stood still, almost coming across as a threat to attack them at any sudden move.

"What the hell's it doing," Cloud glanced between Barret and the scorpion.

"I got no clue," Barret said, "but this Unversed is definitely not like the others."

The two of them prepared for an attack and readied themselves to prepare for the brunt of an attack. However, their mouths dropped open when they saw the tip of the scorpion's tail begin to spark, summoning up a supernatural, dark powerful energy at its' tip. The energy grew a bright bluish-purple, almost like a laser beam, burning with a bright heat at its' core.

Only one word came to Barret's mind.

"Shit."

The energy continued to build up and sear within the scorpion's tail, preparing for an attack regardless if the two fighters fought back or fled.

"Run!" Cloud called out to Barret, before turning back and racing back across the rooftop in a futile attempt to flee from the powerful blast.

Only a moment later, the scorpion let out a mighty roar and ejected the powerful beam of energy forward, as it ripped through the air with a powerful force.

"God damn!" Barret cried, before leaping in the air to dodge the attack. While scraping up his arms, Barret watched as the beam of energy flew over his head, missing him entirely.

Cloud, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky and was met with the powerful beam hitting him directly in the back, where the energy seemed to engulf over his form. The blonde soldier let out a pain cry from the searing burn in his whole body, before he felt the powerful attack whip through him and blast him off of the rooftop, sending him falling to the ground of another cluster of buildings, where he crumbled in a heap.

He opened his eyes. For a brief moment, he thought he was dead until he felt the searing pain tear through him. He didn't know what hurt more – the scorpion's attack or the high, hard fall from the rooftop. Either way, he felt like the wind was taken out of him, but he was at least happy to still be alive.

He slowly rose to his feet, seeing his body covered in cuts, dirt and scorpion blood. Just rising to his feet seemed like a challenge, but after another moment of total haziness, his vision finally cleared and he could stand straight. He sighed out, "On second thought, maybe I'm not getting paid enough for this."

Barret's voice called out from the rooftop, "Yo, Cloud! You alright, man!?"

"Yeah, I think so." Cloud rubbed his backside with a wince. "Damn thing kicked my ass…"

Cloud's attention was pulled when he saw a couple walking down the street next to him. There was a tall brunette man with a very serious expression on his face as he held hands with a raven-colored, long-haired young woman. Cloud could only here small exchanges within their quiet conversation.

"Even more of those…'creatures' appeared. What are they?"

"I don't know, but we should head back and make sure that the others are okay."

Cloud turned from the conversation. 'Even more of those creatures,' he thought to himself. 'And here I thought these Unversed were a small problem…'

The blonde was taken out of his thoughts when Barret called down to him. "Yo man, that crazy ass thing got away and raced down opposite here. I'm gonna go catch up wit' that thing!"

"You go on ahead, Barret. I gotta take a quick breath," Cloud acknowledged the man with a nod. "I'll catch up."

"Don't take too long, Spike! That thing looks bad," Barret said, before making his way off the roof and disappearing somewhere into the town square.

Cloud took a deep moment to breathe and recover, shutting his eyes for just a brief moment as he walked forward down the alley and towards the open street. It was only day one on this new job and at that moment, he felt like it was too much trouble than it was worth.

He rose a hand to cover his eyes as he rubbed his forehead and thought, 'So much for a boring day of work.'

Just then as he was crossing out of the alley and into the open street, he found himself colliding with another person and instantly regretted not watching where he was going. He felt the smaller person steadily walk into his solid form, before hearing a young woman's light voice give out a yelp of surprise.

"Oh!"

When Cloud removed his hand from his face, he looked to see what had happened and saw he had bumped into a young woman in a pink dress and sent her falling onto her behind from their unexpected collision. The basket she had carried that was once filled with flowers was now toppled over with her carnations strewn about the street.

"I'm sorry!" He instantly apologized and knelt down in front of her. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

She shook her head and rubbed her back. "It's okay, neither was I, to be honest." She gave a small light giggle which seemed to ease the situation instantly.

When he heard her light laugh, his lips couldn't help but twitch upwards.

It was only _then_ that he really saw her.

She looked about his age and had a long braid of brunette hair tied back behind her head in a pink bow. The short red jacket worn over her shoulders modestly covered up her womanly figure and contrasted with the long pink dress that concealed her long legs.

But most noticeably, he thought, were her eyes. They were the most radiant green he had ever seen and when he looked into them, he felt his heart burn and his stomach fill with this light, fluttering feeling. Staring into them filled his heart with a sense of yearning and warmth, a feeling he couldn't entirely explain or understand. All he knew, in that moment, was that her eyes were _impressive and beautiful and unlike anything he'd ever seen._

It was a moment longer before he realized he'd been staring at her and instantly felt himself become flustered, his cheeks reddening when he caught himself.

The flower girl didn't even realize though, as she, too, had been doing the same exact thing to him and found her own cheeks blushing when she had to pry her eyes away from his strong, yet boyish and handsome appearance – scars and dirt and all.

He cleared his throat and looked at her sincerely, "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your flowers."

She playfully shook her head, "Oh, no, don't worry. You didn't. The flowers are quite resilient." She stayed crouched on her feet as she went to collecting each of the flowers scattered about around them.

"Oh….Here, let me help," Cloud said shyly, as he stayed kneeled across from her, slowly collecting each of the flowers he had accidentally caused her to drop and placing them lightly in the basket. It was a strange feeling being there in that moment. He didn't know why, but he watched her ever move so _closely_ and _contently_ , as if she was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

"Thank you," she said to him with a grateful smile as the two of them finished collecting the scattered carnations. "You didn't have to help me, it's really kind of you."

"Of course, I did. It was my fault, really," Cloud said, outstretching his hand out before him to offer her a lift up.

She looked up at his hand for a brief moment and she could feel the burn in her cheeks again. She gingerly placed her hand in his.

Cloud couldn't help but take in the feel of her hand in his, her light touch, the gentleness as she moved, it seemed like everything she did, everything she was completely held his attention and stirred a foreign sensation within him. Without another moment passing between them, he gently pulled her up to her feet.

She smiled as she swiped off the dirt that had collected on her dress and collected her flower basket from off the ground, "See? No harm done."

Cloud nodded and grinned, "Good."

She looked back and forth down the street, "Is everything okay over here? I came down this way because I heard a loud crashing noise."

"Erm…" Cloud paused for a moment, as he scratched the back of his head. He thought that it probably wasn't the best idea to cause any more worry or concern to this innocent young woman by telling her that there were several creatures roaming about their town and that he, himself, had just lost a battle against one of them. He decided it would probably be best to be honest, but keep her safety in mind.

Cloud nodded, "Everything should be okay. There were some monsters roaming around the town, though. You should probably get to some place safe or head on home."

She nodded, understandingly. "Oh, I see. Well, you take care of yourself, too, then. Okay?"

He nodded and then there was another moment of silence between the two of them, both of them taking in so much of the other that the need to even fill the silence almost seemed unnecessary. They didn't need to talk, nor did it feel awkward to either of them. There was just a comfort of being there together, which felt so strange since it was their first meeting.

She gently dipped herself in front of him and thanked him again, "I should probably get home and try to sell as many of these before calling it a day." She gestured to the flower basket.

His eyebrows raised in realization, "…Oh, you're selling them?"

"Mhm! I'm the only flower girl in town. The kids love them, husbands get them for their wives – it's a really good business if you know who to sell to. Makes a lot of people happy," she said with a sense of accomplishment in her work.

Cloud nodded, "Sounds like you really enjoy it."

"I do." She looked down at the basket and then up at him again, a small smile on her face as she leaned towards him, "Would…would you like one?"

"Me?" Cloud thought the idea of him, a grown man and soldier, walking away with a flower for himself was a bit silly, but when he saw the sparkle and kindness in her eyes, he couldn't bring himself to decline. If anything, the flower would be a _remembrance_ of her. Finally, he smiled. "Sure."

"Really?" She questioned with a grateful smile.

"Of course. How much?"

She placed a finger to her chin and feigned deep thought for just a small moment, "Hmm, how about…just one munny?"

"Only one?" Cloud asked with a hint of surprise. He reached into his pocket and dug around for the cash and change he kept in his uniform. He finally found a coin and retrieved it, before handing it to the flower girl. "That's a steal."

"Thank you," she said, before reaching into her flower basket and retrieving a carnation. The flower was beautiful, both yellow and white in color, with full, blossoming petals. It was her favorite kind, the only one she had in her basket and she wanted him to have it.

"Thank you," he returned his gratitude as he gently took the flower from her. He looked up to see her radiant, genuine smile – what he considered one of the most beautiful sights he had and would ever see.

"Have a good rest of your day, sir," she said to him with a bright smile, almost unable to look away as she moved past him to continue her walk down the street.

"You, too," he said back to her, as he slowly watched her walk away from him – all the while, this strange feeling beginning to build within his heart. A warm feeling, a _good_ kind of feeling. Something he wanted more of.

She looked back over her shoulder and saw him still standing there, unable to register everything he was feeling and found himself frozen there. She playfully laughed before offering him a gentle wave goodbye.

Cloud's cheeks reddened when she turned back to him and he smiled sheepishly, before waving back at her, watching as she disappeared within the town.

He looked down at the beautiful blossom within his hand and couldn't help but smile down at it, thinking about his first encounter with the mysterious flower girl and what he hoped…wouldn't be his last.

'It's not too big of a town, I'm sure we'll run into each other again soon,' he thought to himself, hopefully.

His mind continued to replay everything that had just happened and as he looked down at the flower, he found himself smiling, more-so than he had ever done before in his life. 'She was right. I guess flowers do have a way of making people happier…' he thought to himself, feeling a tad cliché when he felt his smile grow.

He began his walk down the street to continue his day, unable to stop thinking about the flower girl, her eyes…her _smile_.

He stopped and looked down at the flower.

'The flower's nice, but if seeing her smile only costs one coin, then it was a good purchase.'

* * *

Thank you all! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the story! It's really just an intro for everything else to come, as with everything I have planned for the story, it's going to be quite long, but I'm enjoying writing it. Please read and review, I appreciate it very much!


	2. An Ordinary Evening

Thank you all for reading the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed it and will continue to read! I'm really enjoying writing it! Please enjoy chapter two!

* * *

 **Chapter Two – An Ordinary Evening**

It was nearly sunset when Cloud had started to make his way across town after Barret, who remained in close pursuit after the rampaged scorpion that was threatening the town. He had wandered the town for close to an hour in search of Barret and noticed that there was a new, strange excitement in his step – one he could only think was because of his encounter with the flower girl just a short while ago.

Cloud soon arrived in the fountain courtyard, a small district just off the main town. The district was made up of a series of platform landings filled with water that cascaded down the sides of the platforms, almost appearing like a series of waterfalls that descended down each tier from the top to the bottom. At the top most tier of each landing, a fountain sprouted water upwards, propelling the waterfalls down the sides of the platforms.

The area acted as a break between the town and the reactors and the machinery hidden away along the outskirts of the castle. The metal buildings of the reactors and the smoke stacks appearing from them were often covered by mountainous peaks or a flurry of trees, masking them and whatever secrets they stored within from the rest of the town.

Walking along the ground level of the watery district, Cloud crossed over a wooden bridge before he heard Barret's voice call down to him from the top-most tier above. "Ayyyy, yo, man! What took you so long!?"

"Sorry, I got caught up trying to find you," Cloud shouted up to the man. "You move quick."

"You know it. Get your ass up here, I got a lead on our scorpion freak thing we're lookin' for," Barret called down to Cloud and waited for the man to join him.

Cloud slowly climbed up one tier to the next until he reached the top tiers of the water-filled landings. It was only a few short leaps away until he met up with Barret at the top exit passage to the district. The blonde soldier took a quick second to catch his breath.

"Man, you had me worried after that beast knocked you outta that fight," Barret smirked. "Didn't know if you were gonna make it."

Cloud let out an amused scoff, "It's gonna take a lot more than that to take me out for good. So, where'd you see this creature head off to?"

Barret turned and pointed his way to the exit. "Down this way. From here, we head to the reactors. From what I know, they loop from one to the next in a full circle around and under the castle…"

"If we split up, we should be able to track it then," Cloud said.

"Man, who you kiddin!?" Barret chastised. "If one of us finds that thing on our own, we'll be kissin' our asses goodbye. We barely held up a good fight takin' that thing together!"

Cloud sighed, "Okay, then. We'll have to track that thing down then before it has a chance to escape. Something that size and dangerous, it shouldn't be too hard."

"Right then, let's get this show on the road…" Barret said, leading the way into the exit corridor towards the reactor.

Once inside the next chamber, a sealed off gate blocked the entry to the off-limits, restricted areas of the reactors. Though, now with their new positions, access for Cloud and Barret was simple enough.

Rummaging through his guard uniform for a brief moment, Barret retrieved an access card that granted them access to the restricted areas of Radiant Garden, such as the castle grounds and the reactors. They could only assume that these areas remained top secret for reasons unknown to them. Barret inserted his card into a thin slot right under an electronic panel and the gate unlocked, granting the two of them access before it re-locked itself.

The two of them made their way up towards a series of switchback metal ramps that led the way under and in-between moving machinery and gizmos that spewed smoke and electric sparks. With so much machinery hidden away beneath the castle, it could only be wondered what so much machinery could be utilized for. Cloud and Barret hypothesized that all of it must have been useful for generating power throughout the town, as Radiant Garden had been much more of a technologically advanced town compared to other worlds.

Their footsteps clattered along the metal ramps as they ascended up to the circular ring pathway that led from reactor to reactor around the castle. The pathway offered a wonderful panoramic view of the rest of the town and castle. From up there, it was easy to see beyond the vast mountains that surrounded the town and outward past the ocean.

It also made it very suitable to spy on their scorpion target if it happened to roam from one reactor to the next.

"Okay, let's fry up this scorpion freak thing real good," Barret said.

As the two of the made their way along the pathway, Cloud noticed the orange glow of the distant, setting sun slowly descending along the horizon. It must have been early in the evening already.

Cloud turned to his comrade, "Hey, weren't we supposed to meet back up with Dilan and Aeleus back at the castle gates at sundown."

"Yeah, we were," Barret nodded and gave a confident smirk. "But…we can't just let that monster start causin' a mess around the town, right?"

Cloud shook his head.

"Hell no! That's right, man! We gotta take that damn thing out," Barret said. "I'm sure those damn fools'll understand. Besides, workin' overtime'll put a little extra cash in your pocket."

"Can't complain about that," Cloud smirked. "They'll just have to wait a little longer for our daily report."

"Damn, somethin' tells me they took the easier gig for the day," Barret said.

A loud, screeching roar echoed throughout one of the several metal buildings, a sound that they recognized from the scorpion creature. The roar was still in the distance, but made them jolt up a bit, retrieving their weapons and readying themselves for battle.

It was close and the creature's continued cries would lead them closer to it.

"There's our target," Barret turned to Cloud. "You ready for this?"

Cloud nodded, gripping the handle of his Buster Sword with a determined glint in his eyes. He smirked, "Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

Aerith quietly turned around the corner of the street, as she slowly made her way back to her home at the end of the block of town houses. The rest of her walk home had been rather uneventful. She occasionally stopped to hand out flowers to the kids that passed by with their parents, never charging them for the carnation whenever the young ones asked.

As she made her way down the street during the quiet evening, she couldn't help but think of her encounter with the strange blonde soldier on the street just moments earlier.

It was an accidental encounter with one another and under different circumstances, it might not have happened at all, but something within her made her believe it was supposed to.

He looked worn down, possibly injured and his guard uniform was patterned with dirt. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about his remarkable eyes, not that the rest of him looked bad, either, she thought with a blush and a tight-lipped smile.

'Wait, he was in a guard uniform…' She thought to herself, 'Does he work under Ansem at the castle?'

She looked up at the castle that rose above the town below.

She heard the sound of some rough-housing coming from her home then and turned to the window to see Cid angrily chasing after Yuffie who dashed through the living room, away from the angry mechanic. She lightly chuckled to herself and shook her head, knowing that when she stepped through the doors of her home, she'd probably be the in the middle of a war zone had to break up yet another dispute between the mechanic and the ninja.

She smiled and thought to herself, 'Another ordinary evening.'

For the last fifteen years, after the Garden War that had left her, Squall and Yuffie orphaned after their parents had all died in the violent outbursts throughout the town, Cid had first taken Squall into his home after being a close family friend to the young boy's father.

For several weeks, Aerith had lived on the streets, barely able to survive on her own after her family's home had been burned down during the war. She only bleak memories of that night and being saved, but with her parents gone and her home destroyed, she had nowhere else to go. Her kindness to others was her greatest advantage, as many others would often times give her food to at least sate her hunger. It was a difficult time for her, but with her parents gone and not being old enough to understand her town yet, she didn't have many resources to live off of.

Yuffie had lost both her parents when she was still just a baby, only a few months old and not nearly old enough to understand or remember anything that had happened. Aerith had been to one to find her after hearing the baby's cries when she was looking for a place to squat in one cold night. She couldn't leave the baby on her own, but she knew she was certainly not able to care for the baby on her own, not when she could barely take care of herself.

Cid had found the two of them on the streets one day with the young Squall. The mechanic, who had been in his late twenties at the time, certainly got more than he bargained for. Although his exterior was masked with a usually, aggressive foul mouth and a rough and tough exterior, no one could have expected to see the good and big heart the mechanic had, even if he rarely wanted to show it. It was easy to see his rare kindness when he took both Aerith and Yuffie in and gave them a place to call home, creating their own family unit – something all of them needed at the time.

Aerith had asked Cid many times before why he was so willing to take them all in, knowing that it wouldn't be easy on him, but he never answered it.

The past fifteen years hadn't exactly been easy for them. They had shared a home and often times close quarters, their own rooms being their own haven of solitude. Munny had been tight and infrequent even with Cid's mechanical work, offering very little in terms of amenities or luxuries, so Squall and Aerith had started working from a young age to supply what they could. It wasn't much that they had, but they did have each other, their own family born from this sad situation, in a world where they'd otherwise have nothing.

The flower girl quickly made her way up to the doorway of her house, pushing on the wooden frame and walking into a battlefield.

"Stupid brat! I told you not to throw those damn things in my house," Cid said, prying one of Yuffie's shuriken weapons from out of one of the many mechanical pieces that were strewn about the floor. "You're lucky I don't throw your ass out on the street."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't leave your work 'masterpieces' in the middle of the house," Yuffie shouted back, running from one room to another. "Be mad at yourself, not me, old man!"

Aerith was nearly taken aback when the ninja came running to take cover behind her taller form. She looked over to the dining room, where Squall and Rinoa stood, shaking their heads at the scene. "Another fight?"

"Another fight," Rinoa said, letting go of Squall's hand and walking up towards Aerith.

Aerith sighed and turned to face the young ninja, "When are the two of you going to learn to get along?"

"Heh! Never," Cid said, before squatting down and starting to fiddle with the machinery.

"I think old man will die before we can ever make up," Yuffie said.

Aerith stared at the ninja, admonished, "Yuffie!"

Squall shrugged and crossed his arms with a smirk, "She's probably right."

The flower girl tried to suppress a laugh and thinned her lips. She knew that Cid and Yuffie never really got along from the start, even though he had essentially been the one to raise her. There was just something there that never sat right between the two. It could have been Cid's no nonsense attitude compared to Yuffie's often cheerful and sometimes careless attitude; two personalities clashing of sorts. Regardless, the two were more or less always on shaky ground with one another and they both seemed content with that.

Rinoa went to the flower girl, "You took a while to get back from the marketplace, Aerith. We started to worry about you."

Aerith smiled at the raven-haired young woman, "I…walked a little slower coming home today."

Aerith had been very good friends with Rinoa for the past several years now. Aerith and Rinoa were quite similar in many ways, both with kind hearts and outspoken, extroverted personalities, it was no wonder that they'd become such good friends. It was actually through Aerith that Rinoa had met Squall.

Squall and Rinoa had been a couple for the past three years now after Aerith had tried convincing the two to start dating for quite some time, believing the two would make a nice match. Her belief proved geuine, as the two had become nearly inseparable and quite serious. The flower girl could still recall Rinoa's story about how shy Squall was the first time he ever said that he loved her. Being that Squall had become like a big brother to her, it was nice for Aerith to see his usual stoic and serious self be so happy for a nice change.

"We saw more of those creatures after leaving the marketplace," said Squall. "It seems like more of them have started appearing more frequently."

"More of them," Aerith questioned. "What's happening to our town?"

Rinoa shook her head and shrugged, "We don't know. At first it was just one or two sighted a day, but now…it seems like they're appearing in droves."

"Hmm…" Aerith placed a finger on her chin as she pondered about the increase of the bizarre creatures throughout the town.

"Aside from the amount of them increasing…" Squall continued, "…they're also growing in power. Some more larger, more terrifying. So, some aren't your average run of the mill monsters anymore."

"And that _can't_ be good for the town," Yuffie chimed in.

The flower girl looked between them, "So, what do we do?"

"Well, we can't really do anything," Rinoa said, crossing her arms. "We don't really know much about these creatures, where they've come from and why they're here…we just don't know."

"But we do know that they're not good for our town," Yuffie said, matter-of-factly.

"Which is why I suppose we should do what we can to try and protect it," Aerith finished.

Squall nodded. "Merlin has asked to speak with us about those monsters. He thinks he might be able to give us some information about what they are or ways to drive them away from the town."

"Merlin?" Aerith asked, " _The_ wizard, Merlin?"

"The one that lives in the crazy-looking house in the town borough," Yuffie questioned.

"Mhm," Rinoa said, before going to Squall and wrapping her arms around his waist and smiling up at him. "The monsters around the town have got this one worried, so he's doing everything he can to find a way to resolve this little creature problem before it gets out of hand."

Squall shrugged and smirked, "Sometimes it requires reaching out to all sorts of people who'll help, even a…centuries old wizard."

"Well, aren't you just the noble one," Yuffie said with a hint of dry sarcasm.

"Merlin is expecting us at his house in a bit. He has magic and all sort of spells that I'm sure could benefit us and the town," Squall explained. "I know he's been working on some potions. He's just as concerned for the town, too. We should head out soon and see what progress he's made."

"Roger that," Yuffie cheered, before calling out to Cid, who was still in the main room surrounded by metal scraps. "Old man, you coming or what?"

"Nah, you kids scram outta here," Cid said half-heartedly, distracted by his work. "I'm too busy workin' on this. At this rate, I'll never get this damn contraption up in the air."

"Well, suit yourself then," Yuffie said.

"We'll be back later," Squall said, heading for the door with the others, beginning to make their way through the town to Merlin's home.

* * *

Following the thrashing sounds of the scorpion creature, Cloud and Barret followed the noise into the No. 7 reactor along the perimeter path that encircled the castle wall, leading from reactor to reactor. This one reactor was just one of the eight that surrounded the castle in a full circle. The inside of the reactors was a twisting, turning maze of paths between metal, moving machinery, chains and spewing pipes, masked within a thick haze of fog.

"That bastards around here somewhere," Barret said, moving between the moving machinery gizmos. There was a faint 'click' heard as Barret prepared his gun.

Cloud glanced around the reactor. The thick haze of smoke that piled through the room barely left the room visible. The only real amount of light came from the nearly set sun off in the distance, only seen between the cracks of metal pillars and pipes.

The blonde soldier made his way across the descending metal ramp, moving past the series of ladders and pipes that descended down far into the hazy, fogged abyss beneath the reactor. He felt an uneasy, unsettled feeling then.

'Something doesn't feel right here…' Cloud thought to himself. It felt like the air felt heavier, almost as if he couldn't breathe and his heart stung with an unfelt pain. His vision blurred for a brief moment and then sharpened again. He felt like he was about to pass out. 'What…what is it…about this place?'

The pain turned immense then, so much so that he had collapsed to one knee and began panting heavily, his eyes wide.

Barret turned to see his afflicted friend and instantly rushed to his side, "Yo, yo man! What's gotten into you!? You alright!?"

Cloud's whole body shook then, unable to stop it.

Barret took Cloud by the shoulders then and violently shook his comrade, "Cloud, man, what the hell's gotten into you!?"

Barret's aggressive attempts seemed to work, as moments later, Cloud came to his senses and finally got hold back over his body. Weak and exhausted from the unusual force that overcame him, Cloud nearly collapsed to the floor again, catching himself with his hands as he caught his breath. He coughed violently, sputtering up blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Cloud…" Barret said, his eyes growing with concern, his voice sounding more worried than he thought it had ever found before, but seeing the strange occurrence overcome his friend, he couldn't help but be worried.

Cloud wiped the blood from his chin, getting a grip over his senses and resting his head back against the metal railing behind him. "What the hell…"

"Yeah, man, what the hell!? What was that?" Barret asked, concerned. "You got my dumb ass all worried about you!"

"I don't know…" Cloud said, clutching the part of his chest right above his heart, trying to explain the experience that just overcame him. "It was like…I couldn't breathe. This bad pain right here. Like something inside me was tearing itself apart and I…started losing control of myself. I couldn't stop it."

"Man…" Barret shook his head, "That's some freaky shit."

Cloud looked around his surroundings, "I think…something about this place…"

"You been here before," Barret asked.

"No. Never, I'm sure," Cloud said. "Before being a part of Ansem's workforce, I wouldn't even have a way to get in here. Still, it just feels like…something bad happened here…"

"Well, let's not hang around here anymore then," Barret said, helping Cloud to his feet and leading the blonde down the metal ramp and towards the exit of the reactor. "Yo, you sure you can fight like this? Dyin' on the first day of the job wouldn't look good on your record."

"I'll be fine…" Cloud said, slowly regaining his ability to walk. "Let's just get out of here."

The two made their way up the metal ramp and towards the exit of that reactor, before a quiet, startling sound echoed from the deep depths of the metal building. It sounded like a cry or howl of sorts, a pained one, that run from the deepest reaches of the reactor. It was only momentary, but it was loud enough for Cloud's ears to pick up the sound.

"Did you hear that," he turned and asked Barret.

"Hear what?" Barret asked the blonde.

"That noise. It sounded like…someone was in pain." Cloud turned around to look back at the reactor, "I could of swore I heard something."

"It's just these damn old pipes," Barret shook his head and pointed at the metal, smoke spewing cylinders around the room. Sure enough, whenever they ejected a thick stream of smoke into the air, they let out a shrill crying sound. "Man, that's all it is. Your mind's jus' playin' tricks on you."

"Y-yeah," Cloud said, his brows furrowing in confusion. "I guess you're right."

"Besides, it's definitely not our monster down there. Let's just get on our way," Barret called back to Cloud, leading them both out of the reactor and back onto the path that led the way to the next one.

Cloud and Barret made their way along the path and towards the next power reactor. It wasn't long before they heard the thrashing, screeching sounds from their scorpion prey. It sounded like the creature was in the next reactor over from them.

"It's close," Barret said, turning to Cloud. "You ready?"

The blonde tightly gripped the handle of his Buster Sword, prepared for the second round against the scorpion creature. He wasn't going to let himself get taken down by the monster, not again.

Cloud nodded, determined, "I'm ready."

"Let's fry that scorpion up real good," Barret said with a smirk, before running down the path towards the next reactor.

Another loud cry came from the scorpion. It was then that they knew that the scorpion was certainly in the next reactor over, just a few mere feet away from them. The wild goose chase that had taken place all day and was now carrying over into the evening was about to reach its' culmination here.

The two rushed into the next reactor to find the scorpion Unversed violently battering against the metal pipes and walls of the reactor building, sending its' heavy, sharp tail scraping against the cold surface of the wall. It let out another wail when it sensed the familiar approaching enemies.

"Damn, it's pissed already," Barret said, staring down the one-limbed scorpion. "'Bout time we take that other arm of yours."

"Let's do it," Cloud said before charging towards the scorpion at lightning fast speed, faster than any enemy could have anticipated.

Just as the scorpion reacted by reaching its' hand out to try and grip Cloud's throat, the soldier rose his sword up into the air and brought it down hard on the scorpion's arm. A dark ooze splattered from the scorpion's arm, as it's other severed limb fell to the floor.

The scorpion let out a wail, only momentarily able to embrace its' pain, before lifting its' tail up into the air and darting it towards Cloud. The soldier rolled and darted out of the way, occasionally blocking the scorpion's tail with his sword as it attempted to run him through. A heavy clashing could be heard as the scorpion struck against the metal sword.

Barret fired up his artillery gun and immediately began firing at the scorpion beast. The scorpion thrashed about wildly, as the consecutive bullets shot through it and hit against the metal pipes, causing the metal poles to rupture, sending a flurry of smoke and fumes through the dark chamber, disorienting the scorpion further.

As the smoke flooded through the air, Cloud fought his way through the mist, spotting the large scorpion's shadow through it. Now with an added advantage over the beast, Cloud took action and went for the monster. He seized the creature by its' tail, wrapping it tightly within his arms and twisting until a sickly cracking noise was heard. The enemy let out a despaired cry as it's tail was broken and shattered, the armor-like tail cracking and splintering, leaking venomous fluids as its' main source of offense was destroyed.

"Hell yeah, Cloud!" Barret cheered, "We'll tear this thing apart piece by piece!" He instantly went back to firing towards the scorpion creature, firing bullets directly towards its' face. The battle lines were quickly turning and it would only be a matter of time before the victors were decided. Barret let out a cry as the bullets flew from his artillery arm with a continuous, powerful spark.

"Let's finish it," Cloud cried out to Barret, gripping the handle of his sword and leaping up into the air, ready to end this battle and call it a day's work. He descended down upon the scorpion, bringing his sword down with him and striking down hard through the scorpion's back, slicing the creature clean in half, leaving a trail of dark ooze trailing from one half to the other. The creature's several feet continued to wiggle as if still alive for just a moment longer before turning still.

"That's what I'm talkin' about," Barret cheered with a wide smile. "'Bout time we took out the god damn son of a bitch."

Cloud caught his breath and smirked, "All in a day's work." He removed his sword from out between the scorpion and strapped it to his back. "If this is what we'll be facing every day though, I think they'll need a lot more of us to look after the town."

"Well, I'm sure there's more of us out there that are doin' their best to keep the town safe," Barret assured. "We jus' gotta worry abour right now though and not worry about what'll be happenin' tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right," Cloud nodded.

"Come on, Spike. Let's get back to the others at the castle," Barret said. "We shoulda been back there hours ago now. Let's not keep 'em waitin' too much longer."

"Yeah, let's call it a day," Cloud said, before the two of them left the reactors to return to the castle, ready to give a report of their first day on the job…and what an eventful day it was.

* * *

In the far off town borough of the northern districts of Radiant Garden, a small whimsical house stood on the corner of the plaza. The house had a slightly slanted roof, much different than all the other houses in town. The roof was filled with whirling and spinning gadgets and gizmo pieces, what looked like half-finished invention pieces. The small windows at the front of the house flickered with the small light that came from within.

The group of the four friends made their way down the lantern-lit street in the quiet evening.

"Is this the place," Aerith asked, looking up at the mystical house.

"Definitely looks like a wizard's home," Yuffie said.

"Yeah, Merlin's house," Squall confirmed.

Squall, Rinoa, Aerith and Yuffie made their way towards the old, wooden door of the home.

Inside, an old wizard was stood by his shelf filled with potions and vials, books on the magical arts and jars filled with ingredients for spell-casting. The wizard traced his hand through his long, white beard as he flipped through the worn pages of his spell book and examined the contents of the spell he was conjuring thoroughly. Before him, on a fiery hearth in the small house, stood a bubbling cauldron, glowing a hypnotizing green aura.

He read the ingredients in his book and went to his shelf of ingredients, grabbing a dark purplish potion bottle and pouring the contents within into the cauldron. The mixture of solvents reacted, causing the bubbling potion mixture to glow a bright golden light. Fascinated, Merlin stood over the cauldron and curiously examined the reaction. Moments later, a plume of smoke erupted up from the cauldron and into the wizard's face, as the spell failed.

"Confound it all," Merlin shouted, swiping his way through the puffs of smoke.

"Hello?" Aerith said quietly, cracking the door open for her to peek in.

"Oh! Come in, come in, friends," Merlin said, turning his back from the bubbling and straightening the circular glasses over his eyes. "I knew you'd be coming…"

In the small corner, there was a bed, but the rest of the room was littered with piles of books, ancient artifacts, furniture and the cauldron that stood in the corner of the room.

Yuffie looked around the wizard's home. The ninja examined the spewing smoke and swatted the clouds away from her face, not able to be rid of the putrid smell that filled the air of the home. She held her nose, "Ugh…what is that smell?"

"A potion, dear," Merlin explained, placing a lid over the cauldron. "And a failed one at that!"

"What were you trying to do," asked Rinoa.

Merlin moved out from the corner of the room and walked towards the friends, "Well, Squall here has told me all about the new dangers, those dark creatures that have found their way to Radiant Garden, so I had to help." He smiled at the group, "I've been scouring through all my books, all of the magical knowledge that I have gained to find the means of casting a protection spell against those creatures…"

"And…you couldn't?" Aerith asked.

"I'm afraid not, my dear," Merlin said, taking his spell book and examining the contents of the spell again, "I must have missed an ingredient and caused the spell to go awry…"

"What are those creatures," Rinoa asked. "It seems like there's more and more of them appearing lately."

"Ah, perhaps I have just the information to enlighten you," Merlin said, before waving his hand. From the bookshelf, a maroon-colored book emerged and levitated through the air and down towards the wizard's hands. "This book contains vast knowledge of our world and the many worlds beyond this one…"

"Many worlds?" Squall questioned.

"Surely, you couldn't think this was the only one," Merlin chuckled. "There are countless worlds, as many as there are stars in the sky, some vast, some beautiful and amazing…"

Yuffie sighed and took a seat on the bed, "And it's possible to get to these other worlds?"

"Possible, yes, but whether it can be done is an entirely different story," Merlin said, flipping through the books to the pages he sought. "You see, between each and every world there are impassable walls diving them, separating each world from encountering the other, at least that's what my knowledge has gleamed. Now, there are ways around these walls, portals and pathways to the worlds that could be opened, but even doing so could prove challenging…"

Squall crossed his arms, concern in his eyes as he remained deep in thought.

Rinoa noticed the look on her boyfriend's face and turned to him, "What's wrong?"

He spoke slowly as he pieced his thoughts together, "Well, if these creatures only just came to Radiant Garden and there really are other worlds out there, then…the creatures could have already made their way to the other worlds and who knows what damage they could do there…"

Yuffie shrugged, "Well, I don't know what we could do to stop them. Not even a minute ago, we didn't even know that these other worlds actually existed. We don't even know what these creatures are…"

"Ah, here we go!" Merlin said, turning the book around to show the four friends a page, showcasing an image of one of the dark creatures. "This book magically chronicles the many mysteries and occurrences within our worlds and never fails to amaze me. This being is what we call…an 'Unversed'."

"The Unversed," Aerith whispered.

Merlin flipped the book to examine the pages as he read, "The creatures seem to be…entirely born and made from darkness, using negative feelings of sadness and anger as their host to thrive and live on…They've only appeared recently, but it is unknown where they've come from and what is the source that brought them."

Yuffie stood up from the bed and placed a finger on her cheek as she thought, "So…these creatures are like 'pure darkness' or something? And they want to bring more darkness to wherever they go? Something like that?"

Merlin nodded, "Yes, but these creatures are more than just darkness, they are attracted to the darkness and the power sought within. They traverse through the worlds in search of darkness as a means of feeding off of it."

"So, they're keeping the darkness alive in our world?" Squall questioned, "That can't be good."

"Well, we'll just have to fight off these creatures then," Yuffie chimed in.

Aerith crossed her arms and thought out loud, "We can do that, but…what if the darkness only continues to grow? What's going to happen to this town and to us? How much power does the darkness have and what can it do?"

Merlin shook his head, "I don't know, but…when it strikes, it's never good for anyone."

There was a heavy silence that filled the small home then when the group thought about the mounting darkness that seemed to threaten their small town – a place that was not without its past faults and mistakes, but had never quite been in as great of a conflict as the darkness. It made them question how could this have happened to their home and why it had to happen in the first place. Any answer to those questions would have satisfied no one.

With these uncertain feelings rising to the surface, Merlin closed his book and moved back over to his cauldron, "That's why it was so important to try and activate a protection spell over the town. It might not be able to keep the darkness away forever, but maybe it could keep those creatures at bay, at least for a little while."

Squall nodded and crossed his arms, "I want to do something. I think we should try to do our best to protect the town as best we can. All of us."

Yuffie glanced at the group, "Sooo…are we now the official founders of the Radiant Garden Protection Committee?"

Aerith let out a small chuckle, "I suppose so. Someone has to keep this town safe. Besides, I think Radiant Garden Protection Committee has a nice ring to it."

"We should get a start on finishing that protection spell then," Rinoa said.

"Right," Merlin said, opening the spell book by his cauldron and flipping back through the pages, "Now, let's see. I must have taken a misstep somewhere…Ah! I see what I did wrong…"

The group looked at Merlin, curious.

"This spell requires a 'crystal shard', an ore of pure translucence," Merlin said, reading over his book. He looked up at his shelf of magical properties and potions, seeing that he had no spare available. "Hmm, fresh out."

"So, it's a no go then?" Yuffie asked.

Merlin shook his head, "Not necessarily, if you're up to the task, that is. You see, I believe there is some spare available in the cavernous fissures in the mountainous valleys outside of the town. If you could gather one of the stones for me, we should get this protection spell activated in no time…"

Squall smirked, "Well, sounds like we have a job to do tomorrow then. You can count on us. We'll keep this town protected." They started making their way towards the door.

Merlin nodded, "Thank you, friends. Now, I don't know how effective the spell may be, as the darkness and these creatures hold mysteries that I nor any magical book can explain."

"But it can't hurt to at least try and use the spell to protect us," Aerith said.

"Right," Merlin said, before his face grew more serious. "But…be warned my friends, when challenging a threat as great as the one we are up against, it is wise to understand this – the darkness is not so easy to snuff out."

Aerith remained silent, as if taking in the moment to understand what they, their whole town, was up against. She quietly nodded and made her way towards the door with her friends, as they began their walk home.

* * *

It was quite late into the evening by the time Cloud and Barret made it back to the castle steps. The sky was now blanketed in a flurry of stars and the distant night moon lit the steps as they walked. Dilan and Aeleus remained at the castle doors, waiting for their return.

Dilan turned to them, slightly annoyed. "There you are. What took you so long? You were supposed to return hours ago."

"We thought the two of you might have perished," Aeleus smirked. "What happened?"

"Well, maybe if the two of ya jus' shut your traps we'll be able to explain, ya buncha fools," Barret yelled up at them.

"We ran into some trouble in town," Cloud said. "Those Unversed creatures appeared in the town square. After we chased them down, we were led to a huge monster. It could have easily caused a panic in town. We had to chase it down, it just…took us a while."

"And its' fate? Did you dispose of it," Dilan asked.

"Damn right we did," Barret said with a confident smirk. "Had to take a wild goose chase all the way up to the reactors to do it, but it's done."

"Good, that should keep the town safe…for the rest of the night at least," Aeleus said. "Tomorrow's a new day, same business. You should go home and rest for tomorrow. We'll have your day's pay then."

Dilan smirked, "You did good for your first day on the job, I suppose…but don't let it get to your head."

"Trust me, I don't think you'll let us," Cloud said under his breath. "We'll see you tomorrow."

Cloud and Barret began heading down the steps back down towards the castle gates.

Barret turned to Cloud, "Yo man, where you live?"

"Oh, I have a small place to myself in the northern district. It isn't much, but it's everything I need to put a roof over my head," Cloud said. "You?"

"Got a place for me and my family in the western district," Barret said. "Nice little place, real comfy-like. They must be expectin' me back soon. I better get outta here, man. I'll see ya tomorrow. Take care of yaself," Barret said, before rushing off.

"You, too," Cloud said quietly in response, before slowly continuing his walk home, alone.

From the castle gates, Dilan and Aeleus looked down upon the two departing comrades.

Dilan turned to Aeleus, his eyebrow raised, "They are stronger than we thought. I didn't think that they would survive that encounter with the Unversed so easily…"

Aeleus shook his head and turned to his friend, "That's not what concerns me. They went to the reactor…"

"Yes, I was taken off-guard when they mentioned that, too," Dilan said, closely watching the two friends head in opposite paths. "Don't the rumors say that the reactor is where that mad man went after Ansem banished him?"

"Indeed, Apparently he's still doing his insane experiments there, somewhere in the restricted reactors," Aeleus confirmed. "It seems banishment hasn't taught him a lesson in gaining his sanity."

"Not that I thought it would…" Dilan said, scratching his chin. "Do you think they suspect anything?"

"I'm sure if they did, they would have mentioned something or explored it themselves, only to meet a surely tragic fate," Aelelus said, closely watching the blonde soldier.

"For the time being, we'll just…have to keep a closer eye on those two…"

* * *

Aerith had finished her shower, grabbing a cotton white towel and wrapping it around her form, as she stepped out from behind the curtain. She went to the mirror and wiped away the fog that had appeared to stare back at her reflection. With a relaxed sigh after another day done, she began combing through her lone chestnut-brown hair and preparing herself for bed.

She finished her task and wrapped her white bath robe around her, quickly leaving the bathroom and making her way down the hall to her bedroom, her footsteps creaking over the wooden floor during the late evening. She walked into her room and sat on her bed, flipping her wet hair over her shoulder.

She sat at the edge of her bed, a small smile growing on her face when she thought of the blonde soldier again. He had been on her mind ever since their meeting in the late afternoon and she just couldn't get him out of her head. Everything he did, everything he was just seemed to stay with her. She replayed their encounter again in her mind and her smile grew wider.

'His eyes were so…beautiful,' she thought to herself, biting her lip to keep her smile from growing.

It was a strange feeling, to be so eagerly captivated by a quick encounter with a stranger, but in that fast meeting, he made her feel protected and safe and cared for all at once. It was a quick and sudden feeling, but entirely wonderful.

She was taken out of her thoughts when there was a subtle knock on the door. She looked up to see Rinoa standing there.

"You okay?" Rinoa smiled at her friend.

"What?" The flower girl felt her face grow warm as she blushed. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "Y-yeah, I'm fine." She gave a light giggle, nervously.

Rinoa went to the girl and sat on her bed, crossing her legs, "You were staring off into the corner of the room smiling like a creep. Daydreaming?"

"Maybe…" Aerith smiled innocently.

"Oh, about what? Or should I say who?" Rinoa pried.

The flower girl shook her head, smiling when her blush deepened. "It's nothing."

"If it were nothing you wouldn't be blushing and smiling like that, which means it's something," Rinoa said back quickly, before taking Aerith's hands. "Come oooon, Aer. I'm one of your best friends! You can tell me!"

Aerith shook her head and giggled, "Really! It's nothing!"

Rinoa huffed and playfully placed her hands on her hips, "Okay, you can play coy for now, but I can recognize when someone's daydreaming about a person. Believe me, I did my share with Squall. So, when you're ready, we can talk all about this 'mystery man' crush of yours."

"Thanks." Aerith just laughed and shook her head, before she decided to redirect their conversation to Rinoa's own love life. "So, it looks like my works paying off. You and Squall seem pretty smitten."

Rinoa looked down and gave a big smile, recognizing the own warmth in her cheeks when she blushed. "We are. It seems like we've been together forever, but now…things are, well, changing."

Aerith tilted her head, curious.

"He's been talking all about 'next steps' and spending our lives together," Rinoa explained with a sincere smile when she thought about Squall's commitment to their relationship.

Aerith's eyes widened and a smile grew on her face, "You think he might…propose soon?"

Rinoa shook her head shrugged, a small laugh escaping from her, "I don't know. That is what comes next, right?"

"Mhm, if you want it to be," Aerith asked, slyly raising an eyebrow to her friend. "Do you want that to ne what comes next?"

The raven-haired girl smiled, guilty. "What do you think?"

"I know the answer to that and I'll be happy for the both of you whenever it does happen," Aerith said confidently and smiled at her friend. "It must be nice. He…really loves you, you know."

Rinoa nodded, happy and content. She couldn't deny it. It was a wonderful, amazing feeling to be in love – to find someone to share your life and happiness with, to be there for you every step of the way. What she had with Squall, she wouldn't trade for the world. "It's…so much more than I ever thought it would be."

Aerith smiled at her friend, happy to see her best friend and the man that was like an older brother to her be so happily in love.

Rinoa rose from the bed then, "Anyway, I really just came here to say goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow when we head out of town to help Merlin get that ingredient for the potion. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Rinoa."

"Hopefully, you dream about 'mystery man' tonight," Rinoa said, calling back from the hall.

"Oh, stop!" Aerith playfully chastised before going to the door and shutting it behind her friend.

She turned around and leaned up against the wooden frame, a small smile on her face. Dreaming about the mysterious blonde soldier wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, she thought.

With a sleepy yawn, she went to bed as hopeful as ever.

* * *

At a small, dark house at the edge of the northern district, the lock 'clicked' open and the door opened as Cloud tiredly shuffled inside after a long day of work. He flipped on the light and treaded over to the table, where he practically crashed down into one of the seats. He felt about ready to just collapse down in his bed, but given that he felt like he was about to fall over any second, the chair would do for right now.

He looked around at his empty house. It was rather scarce. There was a small table to eat at, a couch against the wall in the room with a small television cross from it, a tiny kitchen and bathroom and then his bed and dresser in the other room. It was small, but just enough for him and for the most part, felt rather unlived in even though he'd lived there his whole life.

But there was no touch of family. No touch of really feeling like home or that warmth that is associated with returning to it. It was just him and some furniture. It felt only like a place to live in, not even necessarily a permanent one. It all felt very vacant and empty.

His eyes lowered and he frowned, understanding that he, too, had felt very much the same his whole life. He just felt…vacant and empty.

He shook his head and pried himself from his thoughts, not wanting to get too deep into emotions and thoughts this late in the evening. When he let his mind wander, he really began to fill how lonely and separated he felt from the rest of his town and even, sometimes, his own feelings. Instead, he did his best to keep his emotions hidden inside and was usually, successful.

Slouching back in his chair, he sighed, ready to call it a day and start all over again tomorrow.

He remembered then, sitting forward in his chair and moving his hand up to the collar of his castle uniform. He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his jacket and retrieved the flower that he had kept safely hidden inside – the one from the flower girl.

He stared at the yellow and white flower petals with a gentle smile on his face, his eyes flashing a radiant blue when he remembered the flower girl. Even alone in that dark, empty house, the flower seemed to make everything brighter, happier, just as the flower girl promised.

He gently set the flower down on the table and rested his elbows on the table. He sleepily smiled to himself, unable to stop thinking about the flower girl and felt his heart beat in his chest.

In that moment, thinking about her, that flower, her eyes…the smile she gave him…he didn't feel so alone.

He smiled and thought to himself as he looked at the flower, hoping for a better day tomorrow.

* * *

In the dark evening ahead of Radiant Garden, the reactor's machinery continued churning and sputtering steam through the confined, maze-like building. Contrasted against the grating sound of the moving machinery, deep within the bowels of the reactor, another torturous cry was heard from deep within, echoing upward through the fogged abyss.

Unbeknownst to the rest of their small town, the secrets hidden away within the reactor were more terrifying and startling than any of them would have imagined…

But with their thoughts resting on the Unversed and the power of the darkness that threatened their town, the occurrences happening within the walls of the reactor passed blindly before their eyes.

Though, they had every reason to be concerned about the darkness…for the darkness was not so easy to snuff out…

From the dark ceilings above and descending to the cold, metal floor, a black feather fell.

* * *

Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed! This chapter was really meant to help push both the main Kingdom Hearts story along as well as one of Cloud's main storylines. The next chapter will have Cloud and Aerith actually meeting each other more formally (and a bit surprisingly) and have the two of them go off on their first adventure together! Please read and review, I greatly appreciate it and I appreciate you reading the story! Thanks!


	3. The Soldier and the Flower Girl

**Chapter Three – The Soldier and the Flower Girl**

The early afternoon of the next day began with a loud crash from the blonde soldier, as he came falling down from the tall castle wall and into the gardens outside the royal grounds below.

After the creature he was in pursuit of had counter-attacked back, Cloud took the brunt force of the enemy's move head on and caused him to slip, falling from the stone wall, silent as the air was knocked from his lungs. He fell into the garden flower patches right along the castle walls below, the softness of the carnation petals breaking his fall and stopping what could have been a fatal injury.

He landed on his back with a heavy thud and his world went dark for a brief moment.

Seconds later, his consciousness returned to him as he felt his head spinning, his vision still trapped within the darkness. He was truthfully surprised to be alive and, for the most part, uninjured.

'Why does this keep happening to me,' he thought to himself after his second fall within a day's time. The novelty of the situation was getting old, especially since he certainly was not the clumsy type.

"Hello?" A familiar voice gently spoke from above him.

He slowly opened his eyes, his blurred vision slowly focusing.

The flower girl from the day before looked down at him, concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

* * *

 _One hour earlier…_

"You did good work yesterday," Aeleus said to Cloud and Barret, as just like the day before, they had gathered at the castle's postern to receive their daily task assignments. "That Unversed would have caused much panic in the town, but you both handled it well."

Cloud and Barret looked at each other. Cloud saw a very pleased and accomplished look flash on Barret's face.

Dilan nodded as he flipped through the wad of munny, closely counting the bills and coins in his hands. "Yes, but don't seem too accomplished. A different day is a different challenge. Here. Your day's pay from yesterday," he said, before handing both Barret and Cloud an individual small black pouch containing the money they had earned the day before.

Cloud opened the pouch up and peered inside, seeing the hefty sum of munny layered and folded inside. He smirked, content with his day's pay.

"Now, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout," Barret said.

"If you do a good job today, you'll see the same profits tomorrow," Aelelus smirked. "Master Ansem can be quite generous to those that protect his town."

"So, what's on our agenda today?" Cloud asked, securing the pouch on his royal uniform holster.

"Today, you will both be working separately," Dilan said. "Hopefully, you won't have to face anything you couldn't defeat on your own."

"Aw, man, and here I thought Spike and I might be workin' together all the time. I can tell he'll miss my company already," Barret said with a laugh.

Cloud simply rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Yeah…sure., whatever."

"Cold ass," Barret said back.

Aelelus continued, "Barret, you'll be securing the northern and western district today. Just keep an eye out and make sure everything is in order. Cloud, you'll be keeping watch over the castle grounds."

"Got it," Cloud said, giving a quick nod.

"Aeleus and I will secure the other districts in the town and castle. Like always, we'll report back here at day's end for our report and findings," Dilan said and finished, "Don't get careless. You're dismissed."

Aeleus and Dilan went off to begin their self-given day's assignment.

"Shame we won't get to work together again today," Barret said to Cloud with a smirk.

"I know you must be very upset," Cloud said sarcastically. "Don't make it seem like we're becoming friends, Barret. We're both just doing a job."

Barret sighed, "Man, you COLDER than I thought! I know you ain't a bundle of sunshine and smiley-face stickers, but lighten up for once, man! It ain't always gotta be so serious, you know! It's good to make friends every once in a while."

Cloud shrugged and shook his head. Not that he didn't want friends, he just never knew how to be one or get them. At twenty-one years, he'd never really had a friend; he'd always been focused on himself or his work that he just never felt like he needed anything else. "I…don't really…do the 'friend thing'."

"Man, that just sounds lonely," Barret said.

"I guess I'm used to it by now," said Cloud, quietly. "I know I can count on myself. Don't have to rely on others for anything."

Barret sighed and turned back to look at Cloud, "Man, those are some tall walls you've built up. What the hell happened to you?"

Cloud sighed and shook his head, "I…know what people are capable of. I know how they can hurt one another. I've seen it. I just…I don't need that for myself. I'm not going to let myself get hurt."

"So, you just shut yourself out?" Barret crossed his arms and shook his head, "There's that wall I was talkin' 'bout. Listen, Spike, no one likes getting' hurt, but not everybody's out to hurt others. There's some good people out there, people that care about others selflessly."

"None that I've ever met," said Cloud, shaking his head and shrugging.

"Well, they're out there," Barret said. "I know you're keepin' that wall up to protect yourself, but it's also keepin' all the good stuff out…"

Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again, not really sure what to say since a part of him was actually absorbing what Barret had said to him and even, agreed with him.

"Once you start takin' those walls down around that small, tiny, cold heart of yours…" Barret laughed when Cloud shot him an annoyed glance, "…maybe something good'll fill their place. Just you wait, Spike. You'll see I'm right."

"Yeah, I doubt it," Cloud said, almost to himself, cursing the day he'd admit Barret was right.

Cloud stood there, watching as Barret turned his back and began making his way down the path towards the castle gates. Barret – the unexpected voice of wisdom, Cloud thought to himself, after his comrade's monologues about the goodness of people and protecting the world. It was unexpected of Barret to say the least.

'Let the walls down and…let the good in,' Cloud said to himself, before leaving the postern and beginning his day of work.

* * *

In the late morning, Aerith had emerged from her house to find Yuffie standing there outside.

'Mornin," Yuffie turned to the flower girl. "You ready to get that crystal thing for Merlin? What was it called exactly?"

Aerith gave a light laugh, "A 'crystal shard'. And I'm ready to head out whenever Squall is. Rinoa should be around soon, too."

Yuffie placed a finger on her chin and she hummed, "Hmmm, I get the feeling that this 'crystal shard' is a pretty rare find."

"Well, it is one of the rare ores of our world," Aerith thought back to what Merlin had informed them of. "From what Merlin said, we should be able to find it in the ravine leading down into the mountain valleys outside of town…but no one really heads out that way, so who knows?"

Yuffie gave a loud sigh and crossed her arms, "Ugh, sounds like we're not gonna find this thing."

"Well, I wouldn't give up just yet, Yuffie," Aerith laughed. "We haven't even started yet."

Squall quickly came out of the house then, his sword in hand. With a determined look on his face, he quickly walked down the few steps from the door down to the street.

The two young women noticed the concerned look on Squall's face.

"What's up," Yuffie asked him.

"Squall, is everything okay," continued Aerith.

"Change of plans," Squall began, explaining quickly. "Rinoa just told me that there was a monster spotted in town by her house, coming down from the mountainside and heading towards town."

"An Unversed? The creatures Merlin told us about," Yuffie questioned.

Squall shrugged and began down the street, "I don't know. She described it as some behemoth-like beast. She said it was large, bigger than any of those other creatures we'd come across in town…so, I don't know if it's an Unversed we're dealing with here."

Aerith nodded and began down the street, "Well, we'd better go take care of that thing then before it can harm our town."

"No, I need you both to stay here," Squall said quickly back to his two 'younger sisters'.

Aerith squinted her eyes and tilted her head, slightly agitated, "What? Why?"

"Because it's dangerous," Squall replied back, matter-of-factly. "And I'm not going to let the two of you or Rinoa risk your own safety when I can take care of this thing."

"And what happens when that monster wants to stomp you into the ground and we're not there to save you," Yuffie asked.

"Well, I guess I just won't let them happen, will I," Squall said. He gave a sigh and shook his head, "Look, please just don't go out that way and let me handle this. We'll start helping Merlin later. Just do me a favor and stay safe."

Squall took off down the street, in the direction of Rinoa's house before disappearing down an alley.

Yuffie crossed her arms and impatiently tapped her foot, "This over-protective big brother thing is really starting to chap my hide. It's like he thinks we can't take care of ourselves at all!"

"You can say that again…," Aerith agreed, as she huffed up in annoyance. Though, to be fair, she was used to it by now, as she had grown accustomed to Squall's brotherly, protective nature. It wasn't a bad thing, as Squall _was_ only looking out for his family, though at times, it felt like he was underestimating them when Aerith and Yuffie both knew that they could fend for themselves, both in and out of battle.

If only they'd been given the chance once in awhile…

"Well, this stinks," Yuffie said, kicking her foot back and forth.

"Well, let's just hope he takes care of it," Aerith said, before walking back up the steps to their house and opening the door slightly, reaching inside to grab something.

"What are you doing," Yuffie asked.

A moment later, Aerith retrieved her flower basket and went down the steps, back to the ninja. She smiled, "What else? Back to selling flowers, the usual. Gotta make some munny."

"With the amount of munny Cid spends on those stupid machine parts, we'll need it," Yuffie smirked.

Aerith smiled and moved past her friend, down the street. "Well, you'll have plenty of bonding time with him today. Maybe you could teach him some restraint in spending munny."

"Nooooo," Yuffie whined. "Don't be out too long, I don't wanna be left here with him all day."

"You could always get a job then," Aerith said, beginning to walk backwards down the street with a small laugh.

"Ughhh, neither sounds good…" Yuffie's whines continued, as she made her way up the steps to their home. "Just come back soon!"

"See ya," Aerith said with a small laugh, watching as the ninja went back inside, where she had heard a string of obscenities from Cid who'd just realized that he was stuck working on his inventions with Yuffie meandering around the house all day.

Aerith shook her head and looked down at her basket. They were about a dozen flowers from the previous day still inside, but none of them really stood out to her.

'Hmm…could use more. Need…brighter colors,' Aerith thought to herself.

Unsatisfied with the flowers in her current basket inventory, Aerith slowly walked down the street and thought of where she could pick a few more flowers. 'There's the ones I've planted in the town square…the flower fields in the outer gardens on the edge of town…hmm, no…'

She then thought of the flower patches and shrubs on the outer edges of the castle wall that surrounded Ansem the Wise's castle. They were bright and beautiful, fully-blossomed flowers that adorned the growing flora that sprawled up the sides of the castle wall. They were some of the most impressive carnations she'd ever seen and were the ones that would sell the most for the highest price.

Aerith smiled and nodded, making a sharp turn down an alley between two rows of houses and making her way towards the castle outskirts to pluck a few fresh flowers to start her day.

* * *

Cloud slashed his sword in front of him, taking out some of the last few Unversed that appeared in the castle courtyard just mere moments ago.

The late morning had been quite dull. He'd been left to dispose of the smaller Unversed creatures, which proved no challenge to him. It was very uncommon for the creatures to even make their way past the castle walls, but when it did happen, it was a quick, easy and ultimately boring match for the blonde soldier.

When the mouse-like creatures had imploded into a splash of darkness, Cloud let out a bored sigh, retrieving a cloth from his guard uniform and wiping down the edge of his blade before strapping the sword on his back. He leaned back against a wall at the base of the castle and closed his eyes.

A tremble shook the castle wall then and the blonde's eyes snapped open.

Cloud curiously looked around the castle grounds, but…nothing.

Another distant tremble shook the entire earth then, this time…closer. The blonde soldier instantly went to retrieve his Buster Sword and prepared for battle when he heard the mighty roar from an approaching beast.

Never taking his eyes off of the castle gates, Cloud rushed up towards the postern, which was suspended like a balcony off of the side of the castle, offering a better view of the surrounding grounds – the perfect place to find and spy on the approaching enemy and form the best plan of attack.

Ducking down behind the low wall surrounding the postern, Cloud looked over and saw the monster then. It was a behemoth, with a gnarled face like a wolf's, with long, white fangs jutting from its mouth and two sharp, pointed horns coming from its head. Its skin was a light blue-purplish color, with mangled tresses of white hair and a huge tail that swayed behind it, looking like it could take out anything in its path.

"Damn, so much for being bored," Cloud said to himself. He examined the beast closer, 'That's no Unversed…"

The beast used the side of his body and rammed up against the castle gates, denting the metal frame of the door and metal bars. Cloud knew that the gate probably wouldn't hold up and with another blow from the beast, it came crashing down, sending the metal frame and stone boulders down towards the earth, crumbling a part of the castle wall.

Cloud knew that it would only be a matter of time before he was found, and he wasn't going to let that happen without at least putting up a good fight against this thing. He leapt up from the postern and charged down the walkway towards the courtyard.

When the beast sensed the oncoming soldier, he let out a ferocious roar and charged towards him.

Cloud expertly brought his sword up just as the behemoth was about to attack, the blade meeting with the sharp, strong claw of the beast. A power struggle ensued as the two fought to overpower the other one and hone in for a kill. Cloud overcame the beast and pushed it back with his sword. He took a slash at the beast, just barely grazing its solid arm, before it swiped at him. Cloud skillfully rolled out of the way, dodging the attack.

Finding a moment to counterattack the behemoth, Cloud charged towards the beast and brought his sword down onto the flesh of the monster, only to find…not only would his blade not cut through, but the skin of the beast was completely impenetrable. It was dense, solid, almost like a boulder that could not be cut down by any means.

Cloud knew then, even with his strongest sword at his disposal, there was no way he could take this creature down by his sheer strength, or Barret's or Ansem's or anyone's for that matter. This creature was a force to be reckoned with and one that had to be taken out by other means that brute strength and skilled combat.

Cloud cursed to himself, just as the Behemoth let out another ferocious roar right over the soldier's form. Cloud felt like he could have nearly been blasted back by the strong breath of the beast and could have toppled over any moment.

Cloud quickly looked around, there was no where he could run, and he certainly wouldn't lead it towards the castle…or the town, for that matter. No option sounded good at that point other than saving his life. His eyes darted and scanned his surroundings within a moment's time, before spotting the crumbled castle wall. It wasn't much of anything, but it at least could have led to an escape to safety.

The monster slashed at Cloud again, just as the soldier ducked under the swiping claw. He brought the flat edge of the sword up to the behemoth's face, smashing it square into its forehead, leaving the beast dazed and confused.

With the behemoth temporarily seeing stars, Cloud made a quick run for the crumbled castle wall and begin climbing up boulder by boulder, stone by stone, slowly ascending the fallen wall, looking over his shoulder to see the status of the behemoth. He reached the top of the stone wall, which almost acted as a circular stone landing that surrounded the castle. Then, he heard the behemoth let out another wail.

* * *

At that same moment, on the opposite side of the castle's wall, Aerith had slowly made her way up to the outer gardens on the edge of the castle grounds. The gardens had some of the most beautiful flowers and plants that their small town had to enjoy and given that it was a bit of a walk from the castle, it was often left quiet and untouched.

She went up to one of the flower patches and closely examined the beautiful reds, purples and golden blossoms that radiantly sprung from the ground, filling the garden with their beauty.

'These would be perfect,' Aerith said, kneeling down by the flower bed and plucking a few from the earth. 'I'm sure Ansem wouldn't mind…I did plant them, after all…'

As she plucked a few more flowers from the earth, she looked up then when she heard a mighty roar from the other side of the castle wall.

'What was that?' She thought, placing her flower basket down and reaching towards her belt. She looked up at the top of the castle wall and saw a familiar blonde soldier running towards her.

* * *

Cloud ran along the castle wall, his sprint taking him in a circular path around the castle, but the monster below kept up the pace with him, thrashing and battering through the gardens below as it charged its way along the castle grounds, taking out several trees and castle structures in its path, leaving a mess of debris behind in its wake.

The beast charged forwards a little more, where it was able to cut the blonde soldier off by leaping up towards the castle wall, its strong claws clutching onto the stone and blocking the soldier's path.

"Damn it," Cloud gritted through his teeth, watching as the behemoth wailed and roared against the castle wall.

He could have easily turned and started running the other way, but it was already too late, as the creature swiped it's claw down at Cloud's figure, sending the man falling over the wall that separated the castle from the outer grounds.

Cloud took the brunt force of the behemoth's attack head on and slipped, silent as the air was knocked from his lungs. He fell into the garden flower patches right along the castle walls below, the softness of the carnation petals breaking his fall and stopping what could have been a fatal injury.

He landed on his back with a heavy thud and his world went dark for a brief moment.

From high above, from the top balcony of the castle, a shadowed figure stared down at the sight of the behemoth's attack against the soldier. The figure had been spying on Cloud for the last several minutes, content with what they'd seen.

With a low, dark laugh, the figure outstretched their black, gloved hand before them. "Enough games for now…"

Amidst another ferocious roar from the behemoth, the figure caused the monster to dissolve into thin air, vanishing without a trace for the time being.

"It isn't over just yet," the figure said to themselves, before disappearing through a dark portal to tend to their other plans.

* * *

Aerith looked up and gasped, seeing the blonde soldier fall from the castle wall. She flinched when he landed hard in the flower bed before her and instantly rushed to his side. She knelt down beside him, crouching down into the flower bed as she looked over his form.

Her eyes grew with concern as she watched over him. It looked like a lot was taken out of him after such a fall. She gently brought her hand up to his forehead, where she tenderly brushed a few of his spiky low-hanging bangs from his face. She couldn't help but take in his whole form then; his handsome face, his unusual, but cute, spiky blonde hair, his strong arms and body which were able to wield such an impressive weapon.

This blonde soldier was like a mystery and a wonder to her and she hadn't stopped thinking about him, but by the way he kept _literally_ falling into her life, she felt like there was something bringing the two of them together – something she couldn't necessarily explain.

"Who are you," she whispered quietly to him, almost mesmerized by his figure as she watched over him.

Seconds later, Cloud's consciousness returned to him as he felt his head spinning, his vision still trapped within the darkness. He was truthfully surprised to be alive and, for the most part, uninjured.

'Why does this keep happening to me,' he thought to himself after his second fall within a day's time. The novelty of the situation was getting old, especially since he certainly was not the clumsy type.

"Hello?" A familiar voice gently spoke from above him.

He slowly opened his eyes, his blurred vision slowly focusing.

The flower girl from the day before looked down at him, concern in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Cloud's eyes focused on her then, just her. The world around her, them, seemed to blur and fade away then, as she kneeled beside him, the light enveloping from around her making Cloud squint his eyes as he still recovered. He thought she looked like some beautiful angel that had descended down to him from the most purest light.

He almost felt his lips twitch upwards when he saw those beautiful, emerald eyes again. "You…it's you…from yesterday. You…found me."

"You fell pretty hard, but the flowers broke your fall," Aerith explained to him with a light smile. "What happened?"

Cloud groaned, as he tried sitting up, the flower girl inching back from him to give him his space, "I…I was chasing down a monster, a great one, but I…got attacked and fell down here. Seems to be happening quite a bit to me…"

"Are you injured?" she asked, looking over him concerned.

"My head's a little shaky, but…I think I'm okay," he said, slowly standing to his feet, as she gently grabbed his arm and helped him up. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

"I'm…just gathering flowers for the day," Aerith explained, picking up her flower basket. "The outer gardens of the castle have some of the most amazing flowers I've ever seen. They bloom so beautifully here."

Cloud cockily crossed his arms and smirked, "So…if you're taking these flowers from the castle's gardens, wouldn't that mean you're…"

"What?" Aerith playfully tilted her head at him and crossed her arms to match his pose, "You think I'm stealing?"

He tilted his head at her, "Maybe so, and the price for stealing is getting arrested."

She let out a small laugh, "Oh, really? So, you're going to arrest me, Mr. Big Bad Soldier? After I was just looking after you?"

He smirked again, taking in the flower girl's fearlessness, determination and spunky attitude. It was unexpected and frankly, he enjoyed it. "I appreciate it, but I caught you stealing!" He tried to suppress a smile, as she watched her reach into her flower basket.

She retrieved a small metal rod which must have been about a foot long. She looked up at him and smiled, "Well then, I guess you'll just have to catch me again."

"What?" Cloud tilted his head at her, before he heard a faint 'click' sound coming from the rod, as it expanded to become longer than the both of them. His eyes widened, as she quickly hit him in the chest with it, certainly not wanting to hurt him, but just enough to playfully push him down.

Cloud let out a surprised, almost silly yelp, as the flower girl caught him by surprise yet again and he found himself falling…again…back down into the flower patch. He quickly sat up, watching the flower girl quickly run in the opposite direction from him, trying to conceal a giggle.

"You can't get too far!" Cloud shouted out to her with a hint of a chuckle "I'm going to find you!"

He shook her head, watching as she made her way down the path and back towards the town. She took him by surprise, she made him feel emotions that felt so foreign to him. He didn't think he'd smiled or had to suppress a laugh as much as he ever had before, but even with their brief interactions with each other, it had happened so frequently that he knew…

'She's…something special,' he thought to himself with a blush.

With a tight-lipped smile on his face, he quickly chased after her, leaving the castle gardens behind and continuing down the path that led between the town and the sloping mountain valleys.

A little bit ahead, in the middle of the path, he saw the flower girl just up ahead. From the pink ribbon in her hair then, he saw something fall from it and clatter to the floor behind her, unnoticed by her. He quickly ran faster down the path and went up to the object, continuing his fast pace as he examined it.

It was a small orb, a light ocean blue color. It seemed to capture the light of the sun and glow radiantly.

Clutching the beautiful orb, he chased after her.

A little bit further up ahead, Aerith let out a few mischievous laughs as the chase ensued. She couldn't help but think this entire scenario was funny and exciting, even a tad bit silly. It felt like a game of hide and seek between two young adults, but she enjoyed it, especially if it meant bringing out the fun, playful side of the stern and strong blonde-haired soldier.

With a sparkle in her eye, she glanced over her shoulder to see if he was close behind her. From where she was, she couldn't see him anymore, though truthfully, she didn't want to get too far from him and make it too difficult for him to find her.

She continued onward a few more steps and face forward down the path only to find the blonde-haired soldier standing right there in front of her, his arms crossed cockily as a tight-lipped smirk appeared on his face when her eyes widened when she saw him.

Aerith looked around, wondering how he'd beaten her there, "Huh? What? How did you-"

"I know this town like the back of my hand," Cloud explained. "You really thought you could outrun me?"

"Who said anything about that?" She playfully defended, "I just wanted to see how quickly you could find me."

Cloud tilted his head and offered her a small smile, "And I did, just as I said I was going to."

"I knew you would," she said and the offered him an innocent sparkle in her eyes. "So, now that you've got me, I suppose I'm under arrest…from taking the flowers that _I planted_ and have taken care of, the same ones that saved your life!"

Cloud's face fell slightly then upon realization, "Oh…uh, um…oh, I guess you couldn't have stolen your own flowers then, huh?"

"Don't think so, soldier," she said with a wink. "But at least the chase was fun, even though I took your away from your job."

"You did!" Cloud raised his eyebrows before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the orb that she had dropped, showing it to her. "By the way, you dropped this."

Aerith's playful smile faltered when she saw the orb and she immediately went to her ribbon to check it only to discover that her orb had fallen.

Cloud smirked and held the orb above his head, holding it up to the sunlight and examining it, "Found it back there while you were on the run, had to stop and pick it up."

Aerith's lips thinned and she tilted her head.

Cloud playfully tossed the orb from one hand to another, almost as if trying to tease her after she had done the same to him. The enjoyment of this playful teasing was just too entertaining to pass up, watching the way the flower girl gasped as he tossed the glass-like orb from one hand to the other quickly.

Aerith's eyes kept close watch over the orb, "Please, give it back! Stop that!"

Cloud grinned, "What? After having me chase you all the way down here with your orb, it'd be a shame now if it just so happened to shatter into pieces."

"Please, don't!" Aerith bit her lip, almost as if trying to stop the tears from forming in her eyes, "It was my mother's! That's all I have to remember her by."

Cloud froze then and instantly felt terrible. His innocent teasing had definitely gone too far and he knew it. Even just seeing the sadness in the girl's eyes tugged at his heart in ways that he didn't know were possible. He felt awful that he'd said anything, especially something that had hurt her.

Although only having short interactions with the flower girl, he knew already that he would never want to hurt her or see her sad.

He hesitated for a moment, stumbling over his words, as he lowered his gaze and shook his head. "I'm…I'm…so sorry." His voice lowered, almost like a whisper, ashamed that he'd done or said anything to hurt her. He handed the orb back to her gently, as if the slightest move could break her. "I'm so sorry…I really am," said Cloud, apologetically.

Aerith took the orb back from him and held it tightly, relieved she hadn't lost it. "Thank you."

He scratched the back of his head, "You don't have to thank me. I shouldn't have said anything."

"It's okay," she reassured him with a light smile, accepting his apology.

"No, it's not," Cloud shook his head. "I…I was joking, but It's not something I usually do, so I guess…I need a few lessons," he nervously chuckled. "I…I was never going to arrest you, either. I wouldn't do that to you, you know."

Aerith placed her hands behind her back and leaned forward, "I know. Don't you worry about it, soldier." She placed a finger to her chin and thought, "Speaking of which, I…we don't know each other's names, do we?"

Cloud shook his head and smiled, "I'm Cloud, Cloud Strife."

"Cloud Strife, hmm," Aerith repeated to herself with a small smile and a blush on her cheeks. "I'm Aerith Gainsborough. It's nice to meet you, Cloud."

"It's nice to meet you…again, Aerith," Cloud finished with a smirk. 'Aerith…of course, she'd have a pretty name to match,' he thought to himself, though he dare wouldn't speak his mind's thoughts out loud.

"So, you must work at the castle then. For Ansem," Aerith asked him.

"What gave it away," Cloud asked with a silly grin when he pointed towards his castle guard uniform. "I just started yesterday actually…and, well, with one monster after another, it's been eventful to say the least."

"Wow, I came across you on your first days on the job." Aerith shook her head and sighed, "I'm sorry if I've taken you out of your work yesterday and today. I'm sure the castle policies can be strict. I didn't mean to be a burden to you."

"You? No, of course not! Not at all," Cloud replied with a small smile and a crimson-red on his face as he looked down and scratched the back of his head.

Aerith sensed his shyness and tilted her head, knowing that he was the type of person to be more introverted and subdued, not that she minded at all. She just wanted him to be as comfortable as he could be. She continued, "So, you're a part of Ansem's guard then? You help protect the town?"

Cloud nodded, "Yeah, and it hasn't really been easy. It seems like ever since I started this job, it's been nothing but constant monsters in town. There are these creatures, they're called the Unversed, they-"

"Oh, the Unversed," Aerith said. "My friends and I have heard about them."

"You have," Cloud asked.

She nodded, "Yes, from the wizard, Merlin. He lives in town, he has all sorts of books and knowledge about our world, the darkness, magic, you know…"

"Hm, never heard of him."

"He's told us what he could about the Unversed, which really wasn't much, unfortunately," Aerith explained. "We were actually supposed to help him today with retrieving something for him, but something came up. He's working on a spell that could protect the town from the monsters, but he's missing an ingredient."

"Really?" Cloud asked, placing his hand on his chin as he thought, "Well, maybe…I could help you then?"

Aerith's eyes lit up and she smiled up at him, "Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Of course. It's the least I could do after earlier," Cloud said back, flashing her a handsome smile. "Besides, if I help you get what you need to make a spell that could protect the town, I'd really just be doing my job, right? Might even make my job a little easier without all these creatures running around town."

"You do have a point there," Aerith said with a small laugh. "Well, I'd be happy if you joined me if you can."

Cloud grinned and nodded, "You got it. So, what is it we're looking for?"

"It's called a 'crystal shard'," she explained. "We should be able to find it in the valleys outside of the town, down by the gorge that leads towards the mountains."

"Hmm, could be dangerous out there," he said. "I know fiends tend to roam around those areas and if that behemoth monster from earlier is still around, that can't be good."

"You were fighting that thing, too? So was my friend. It seems to be making its run of the town," she said. "If it's too dangerous, you really don't have to risk your safety for m-"

"Hey," he quietly interrupted her. "I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger like that. I'm going with you."

Aerith blushed then, "Thank you, Cloud."

His lips twitched upwards when she let out a small giggle and brushed a stray strand of her long brown hair behind her ear.

"Wow," she remarked. "First, you're arresting me and now you're my personal bodyguard. What did I do to get so lucky," she said, giving him a flirtatious wink.

Cloud's blush intensified then, as he stammered, a big goofy smile flashing on his face, which he tried to hide as he lowered his head, "Ah, well…heh…I just want to make sure you're safe. So, if I am your… _bodyguard_ …" his blush deepened even more, "…then that's a title I'll honor." He shyly averted his gaze as he tried to hide his smitten smile.

Aerith tried to suppress a giggle by covering her mouth with her hand, her own cheeks reddening. She couldn't help but inwardly adore his reaction and dedication to her. 'Hmm, _too cute_ ,' she thought of him when she felt her heart create this new warmth within her.

"Well then, _bodyguard_ , I'll just have to find some way to repay you for your help," said Aerith.

Cloud shook his hands in front of him in protest, "No, no! You don't have to do anything. I want to help you."

Aerith playfully rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, "Okay, I don't _have_ to do anything, but I want to. I just…have to think of something suitable…"

"As you wish," Cloud said with a small smile, before continuing a little more down the path before them. "Come on, we should head out to the gorge and find that thing."

She stood there for a moment, watching as Cloud descended down the pathway towards the mountain ravine trails. He had certainly taken her by surprise, as she did to him.

Beneath his cold and stern appearance, she saw much more in him than he probably had shown anyone and Cloud knew that. She was able to pry smiles and laughs out of him when he knew he rarely did that for anyone.

It wasn't just that though, but within a short meeting, Aerith could see deeper into his heart, reaching beneath the surface and finding someone who deeply was selfless. Within a moment, he was willing to risk his own safety for her when they were still practically strangers. She could sense his strong will and his determination and that was incredibly endearing to her.

There were many layers to this _Cloud Strife_ and no matter how long it took, she wanted to be there to uncover every one of them and give each of them a place in her heart.

She brought a hand up to her heart as she thought of him, her mouth falling slack as she let out a soft sigh, this strange but wonderful feeling appearing within her.

"Hey! You coming," he called back to her, taking her out of her thoughts.

She looked up from her deep thoughts then and looked at him, "Y-yes, sir! On my way, _bodyguard_!"

* * *

Squall and Rinoa had slowly walked down the street her house was on, curiously looking around the town.

"That's odd. Not a monster in sight," Squall said, examining their surroundings.

"Strange," Rinoa remarked. "That behemoth creature was huge. It couldn't have just disappeared into thin air like nothing happened. It definitely couldn't have just left the town without anyone noticing."

Squall sighed, loosening his grip on his sword as he walked, "I feel like I've walked circles in this town for the last hour now. That thing is gone."

"Well, let's just hope that thing is actually gone then," Rinoa said with a small smile, brushing her hand along Squall's strong arm. "Come on, I'm sure everything will be okay. If that creature hasn't been taken care of, it's probably left town already."

Squall, a bit agitated with the situation, nodded and let a forced smile, "You're probably right. Aerith and Yuffie are probably going to kill me after I made them stay out of this. We could have gone and helped Merlin today."

"You made them stay behind again," Rinoa asked.

"Hey, for what it's worth, I didn't want to have you get dragged into this, either," Squall defended. "I just don't want anyone getting hurt. They probably get so mad about it, too."

"Oh, I know they do," Rinoa smiled. "Because guess who's the one that has to hear about it from them? Me. All the time," she laughed.

Squall put his hands up in defense, "I'm just trying to keep everyone safe. That's what our town needs now."

"I know, sweetheart," Rinoa said, leaning up on her toes to kiss her boyfriend, lovingly and reassuringly. She pulled away from the kiss and smiled up at him. "Come on, let's cheer you up."

He sighed again, "I do hope they're not mad, though. I wonder what those two are up to."

* * *

At their house at the end of the street, Yuffie stood paralyzed in fear, after she had just accidentally trampled over the invention Cid had spent the last twelve hours working on, sending metal pieces clattering all about the den.

Yuffie's eyes widened, when she practically saw Cid's face turn as fiery as the end of his lit cigar. It had definitely been a rough afternoon between the two.

Only one thing could be said from the pilot.

"GET THE &%$# OUTTA MY HOUSE, YA $#%&^*' BRAT!"

* * *

Cloud and Aerith had continued down the pathway that led out of the castle grounds and descended down towards the ravine. From where they stood, before them were dark blue, almost purplish mountain ranges, trails and ravines that zig-zagged back and forth through caverns and cliffsides, leading down into a great maw at the very base of Radiant Garden. It was like they were stood in the middle of a great valley, two large mountainous ranges with a canyon in-between them.

As Cloud continued down the mountain path, he carefully tested his footing over the unstable cliffs, securing his path before he maneuvered about, as any skilled fighter would.

He turned back to Aerith and outstretched his hand towards her. "Here," he spoke softly to her.

Aerith looked down at the blonde's hand and hesitantly took it, feeling the warmth in the palm of his hand. She quietly thanked him as she made her way down the rocky surface to step on the landing next to him.

They two of them continued down a rocky ravine slope, walking step in step with one another.

"Caverns should be down this way, right?" Aerith asked, pointing down towards the end of the ravine trail.

"Should be," Cloud said. "I've only ever been to this part of Radiant Garden a few times. Well, at least the fiends haven't given us a problem yet."

The two of them had reached the edge of a cliff, the mountain trail continuing a few feet beneath the rocky precipice. Without much hesitation, Cloud went to the edge of the cliff and leapt down, landing securely on the rocky boulder below.

Aerith went to the edge of the stone boulder and looked at Cloud a few feet beneath her. To her surprise, he outstretched his arms up towards her waist and gestured for her to move closer to him.

"Aerith, I'll help you," Cloud said to her, slowly reaching up to her, making quick eye contact with her to make sure it was okay, before tightly securing his hands around her waist and easily lifting her down to the boulder which he stood.

She blushed, feeling his strong hold around her waist as he helped her. She couldn't help but notice how kind and courteous he was with her – a real gentleman.

As she was lowered to the ground, her footing wasn't yet secure and she nearly slipped on a series of loose rocks, but Cloud was right there to catch her, keeping his hold on her waist firm, pulling her towards him a little.

"Don't worry, I've got you," Cloud spoke softly, keeping her safe.

She regained her footing and slowly traced her hands down Cloud's arms, a small smile on her face, "Thanks, Cloud." Although only just acquainted with each other, Aerith didn't think she'd ever felt as safe and secure her whole life as she did in that moment.

He stood there for a moment, looking at her intently, before realizing his grip was still firmly on her small waist. He quickly took his hands away from her then, a boyish expression on his face once he let go.

Aerith continued down the mountain slope to the caverns, "You know, Cloud, I can travel just fine. You don't have to be so careful with me. I might be a flower girl, but that doesn't mean I'm as fragile as one," she giggled.

Cloud scratched the back of his head and shrugged, "I just want to be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt. I _am_ your bodyguard, after all. It's my job."

Aerith admired his dedication once again. He was really treating it like an actual occupation and frankly, he took pride in doing it. She smiled, "Thank you, Cloud."

The two of them reached another end of the path where there was a large gap in the middle of the pathway. It must have been at least ten feet across with a long, fatal drop all the way down to the bottom of the gorge below.

Cloud stood next to Aerith, "Okay, with this one, it's all about how you position yourself to jump across. You want to-"

In the middle of his sentence, Aerith went rushing forward using her iron rod as a sort of javelin and propelling herself across the gap, landing securely on the other side with quick maneuverability. She turned back to him and flashed a confident smile, "What were you saying?"

Cloud froze in his place, inwardly very impressed with the young woman and trying not to show how her spunky and outgoing attitude was so endearing to him. 'She really is something special,' he repeated to himself what he'd said earlier.

"Come on, Cloud. I've heard only the best bodyguard's can make it across this gap," Aerith said back to him with a bit of a smug expression.

He rolled his eyes and gave a fake scoff as if he was insulted, "Okay, you're pretty good."

"You sound surprised," Aerith laughed.

Cloud shrugged and smirked, "Maybe just a little bit."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean," she playfully pouted at him and placed her hands on her hips. "What? Just cause I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't hold my own, too, you know!"

"I don't doubt it, Aerith!" he put his hands up in defense and laughed. "Well, okay. Looks like you don't need me here then…"

"Nooo, come on, I do!" Aerith playfully pleaded with him and motion for him to jump across. "I know you can do it!"

Cloud let out a small chuckle and took a few steps back, before leaping across the gap and making it all the way to the other side without much of a struggle. He fell to his knees when he made it to other side, but it was a success.

Aerith went to him and helped him to his feet, brushing off the dirt that had formed on his knees, "See? I knew you had to be the best bodyguard, Cloud."

He chuckled as the two of them continued down towards the caverns. They must have been just up ahead now, not a long walk at all.

He turned to her, "So, how'd you learn to do so much? You seem like you could defend yourself pretty well."

"Well, I lived on the streets for a little bit after my parents died and my home was destroyed, so I had to fend for myself for a little bit. And you know how Radiant Garden can be. It isn't always as…'radiant' as we'd like it to be," Aerith explained.

Cloud intently listened as she talked, wanting to know more about her, as much as he could.

Aerith went on. "I was taken in by a man named Cid, along with two of my friends, Yuffie and Squall. He'd given us a home ever since we were so young. We all sort of…grew up together and became, well, like a family," she sighed. "It's nice, despite the situation. And well, when you live and grow up with a swordsman, a mechanic and a self-proclaimed ninja, you can learn quite a bit," she finished with a laugh.

Cloud's smile slightly faltered when he listened to her speak. She must have lived just as much of a difficult life as he had done, which was a surprise since she carried herself with so much optimism and fun.

She shook her head, "We were all really just doing what we could to survive. It hasn't always been easy and money's been tight, but you'd be surprised how well the flowers sell. Not everyone is so lucky to get one only for a gil."

Cloud's smile returned, "I must be very lucky then."

The brunette chuckled and nodded.

They arrived closer to the caves and could make out the dark entrance, spotting the shimmering, shining crystals within.

As they approached the entrance, Cloud turned to the flower girl, "So, that orb, the one that was your mother's…is it like the other crystals in this cavern?"

"Hmm…I'm really not too sure," she thought out loud, tilting her head as she thought back to the day her mother had given it to her. "Honestly, I don't know what it is at all…"

"You've had it all this time and you still don't know," Cloud asked.

"No," she shook her head. She gave a small sigh and tilted her head, looking at Cloud, "I remember, before my mother died, she gave it to me, saying it had been passed down through our family. She said to always keep it with me and that when the time would come, I'd know when and how to use it."

"Wow," remarked Cloud.

Aerith let out a small giggle, "She said the mysterious secret imbued within it was…'the greatest power known to our world'."

The blonde-soldier looked curiously at the flower girl.

"Light."

Cloud watched as Aerith entered into the crystal caverns, following closely behind her. The caverns were beautiful, filled with blue, purples and clear crystalline stalagmites that stretched down from the cavern ceiling and floor. They filled the caverns, shining brilliantly with a bright radiance that permeated throughout the entire cavern. It seemed majestic and otherworldly, like a place of such beauty couldn't secret exist somewhere within their ordinary town and yet, there this place was – this mystical, crystalline cavern.

"I believe the crystals in this place are like my orb," Aerith said. "They also hold the power of light, which is why Merlin needs one for the spell. The light within will help fight off the darkness."

Cloud nodded as she spoke, not necessarily understanding it, but thinking it made sense. The topics of light and darkness weren't something he thought of too much. He didn't know what to make out of it, especially when everything he had heard seemed to have come from some folklore or a fairytale story about how the darkness was born in peoples' hearts. It seemed a little too far-fetched and he didn't know what to believe, so he chose simply not to believe in anything.

"It should be in here somewhere," said Aerith, as she examined each of the crystal columns from around the cavern. Aside from the different colors, it was difficult to distinguish one rare ore from the others.

"So, how do we know which one is this 'crystal shard'," Cloud asked her.

"Merlin said that the crystal shard was an ore of pure translucence," Aerith explained. "So, the rock we're looking for should be completely clear."

They both looked around the vast cavern at all the of the crystals that surrounded them.

"Look. Over here," Cloud called out to her, his voice echoing through the cavern. He brought her over to the far side of the cavern, where a cluster of clear crystals had gathered, branching from the ground in a cluster. The crystals were completely translucent, almost as if they were made out of glass, and absorbed and reflected a brilliant light throughout the cavern.

"That must be it," Aerith said with an accomplished smile. "But…how do we get it."

"Well, that's the easy part," said Cloud as he smirked and reached for his Buster Sword. He brought the blade forward and struck clean through the crystals, shattering he clear ores, sending fractured pieces of them to the floor of the caverns. He retrieved his sword from the crystal remnants and strapped it on his back.

"Easy enough," said Aerith, as she crouched down and sorted through the crystal fragments on the ground, scouring for a good piece. It wasn't long before she found a fractured fragment just a little bit larger than the size of her hand. "This'll work perfectly."

Cloud nodded and headed back towards the entrance, "Come on, we should head back. I can tell fiends are drawn to this place. We should head back before we find any trouble."

"Um, Cloud…" Aerith replied meekly, tapping on his shoulder and pointing him towards what awaited at the outside of the cave.

Before Cloud's eyes, waiting at the exit of the cave, following the sound of a ferocious roar, the same behemoth creature from earlier seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"What? That creature again? How the hell did that thing get here," Cloud gritted through his teeth.

"This was the thing you fought earlier?," Aerith whispered to him under another mighty roar.

"Yeah, but I couldn't defeat it," he quickly replied back.

"Maybe we can do it together?"

"Aerith! There's no way I'm going to let you fight this thing!" Cloud told her, his voice stern and certain. "Earlier, my sword couldn't even pierce it. This thing is practically unbeatable."

"So, what do you suggest," Aerith asked quickly, seeing the behemoth stomp forward.

Cloud quickly glanced between her and the behemoth, "Go, Aerith! I'll fend it off long enough for you to escape!"

"No, Cloud! What about you," Aerith asked, wide-eyed. She determinedly shook her head, "I'm not going to let you stay back and fight this thing on your own!"

"I'm _your_ bodyguard, remember? Keeping you safe is what matters," Cloud said with a small smile.

"But…Cloud, I-"

"There's no time, Aerith!" Cloud said, shaking his head and practically pushing her towards the back of the cave. "I can take care of this! Go!"

Aerith watched as Cloud charged into battle with the behemoth. She wanted more than anything to join the battle with him, but she knew that Cloud would only try and help her flee and she'd be distracting against the wild beast.

Cloud's blade met with the behemoth's claws yet again and the soldier struggled to fend off the creature. As soon as the two clashed, Aerith made a run for the trail that led up through the mountain path, but found herself freezing, unable to leaving the blonde-soldier behind to such a perilous fate.

"Aerith! Take the crystal and go!" Cloud called to her again, staring at her determinedly and giving her a subtle nod.

Aerith took a brief moment to stare at Cloud again, truly unable to leave him behind, but she gave him a nod in return and quickly ran from the cavern and back towards the ravine trail.

Cloud's focus on fending off the behemoth returned as he tried to use his superior strength to defeat the creature. It only worked for a short while, but before he knew it, the creature let out a ferocious roar and pushed Cloud back, before swiping his claws at the soldier. The attack was so strong it sent Cloud flying back into the wall of the cavern, where he crumbled down in a heap on the floor.

Cloud fell from the wall and hard onto his back, the creature's sharp claws cutting through the flesh of his chest and stomach, as his blood began to stain his uniform. He felt unable to move from the intense pain in his body and watched as the behemoth slowly moved closer towards him, it's jaw slowly widening, as if to engulf him in a single bite.

Aerith continued up the trail when another ferocious wail from the behemoth stopped her in her tracks. She looked down at the crystal in her hand and then back over at the caves where Cloud was. He'd been willing to lose his life just to get her to safety, just to give her a chance to protect the rest of the town. She couldn't leave him behind, she just couldn't do that to him.

Not after he'd already done so much for her. He was her bodyguard, but that didn't mean that he never needed protecting, either.

Cloud tried inching himself back away from the beast, but he had practically already accepted his fate and there was little he could do now. Not only could he not truly even injure the behemoth, but he himself was not holding up well, as the cuts along his chest and stomach stung immensely. All he could do now was sit and wait as the behemoth stomped towards him, its' slobbery, slack mouth opened wide and grotesquely.

Just as he felt the behemoth's hot breath on the warmth of his skin and could practically sense the sea of razor-sharp teeth surrounding him, Cloud looked up to find a green aura appearing around the behemoth. The creature was sucked up into the powerful vortex, where it morphed and twisted in on itself, before the behemoth imploded and was destroyed without a trace of itself to leave behind.

Cloud's eyes widened seeing the monster vanquished and destroyed so easily. He clutched the ground beneath him, "What…the hell was that?"

He looked up to find Aerith at the entrance of the cavern, her palm open and outstretched before her, the green aura that destroyed the behemoth coming from within her. A moment later, the aura faded around her and all returned to normal.

"You…"Cloud breathed out, his eyes still wise with shock and surprise, most of all grateful he was still alive. "How did you…do that? That was…amazing." The soldier marveled at the flower girl's unique, special powers. They were strong and powerful, almost mystical and otherworldly. She seemed to be able to control and command those powers so naturally and they were unlike anything they'd ever seen.

"You came back for me," said Cloud, almost sounding moved by her actions. He watched her walk up to him.

"Of course I came back for you," Aerith said, kneeling down next to him and gently resting her hand under his chin. "I couldn't let my bodyguard die, could I?"

Cloud blushed and closed his eyes, "Those powers of yours are…incredible. How did yo-"

"I was born with them. I've had them as long as I can remember," Aerith said quietly, looking over his injured form and his bloodied shirt. "I've just always known how to naturally use them to protect myself and others. Over the years, my powers have become quite strong…but they sometimes take a lot out of me," Aerith finished with a small laugh.

All Cloud could do was just stare up at her from being in both awe and being rather impressed by her.

Kneeling beside him, she set the crystal shard down and tended to him. She looked over him, concerned, "Cloud, you're hurt..."

He gritted through his teeth from the pain and tried to sit up, "No…no, it's just a small cut…" he said, looking down at the mess of his torn uniform and the blood that soaked through it. "I'll…I'll be fine…"

"Hey, shhh...it's okay," Aerith said to him soft and calm, her voice a slight whisper, as she gently set him back down. ""You don't have to pretend you're okay if you're not, Cloud."

Cloud huffed up and winced, feeling the pain rip through him again. He let out a deep sigh, "…I know. You're right, I'm...not okay."

Aerith offered him a small sympathetic smile and gently moved her hand down from his chest and to his stomach.

Cloud watched as her gentle ministrations continued. His body tensed when he felt her hand travel under his shirt and place itself on his toned stomach. He blushed and looked up at her, "Wha-what are you doing?"

She gently placed a finger on his lips, "Shh, just trust me."

Cloud looked up into those deep, emerald eyes and slowly nodded, "I…I trust you."

She slowly shut her eyes and focused, feeling a distant energy begin to form and spread through her veins. Within moments, a gentle green mist appeared around her form and moved directly into Cloud's. The green mist surrounded the blonde-haired soldier and spread through his chest and stomach.

To Cloud's surprise, his new inflicted would miraculously begin to close and heal itself completely, a gentle, almost relaxing cooling feeling spreading throughout his whole body.

Cloud never broke eye contact with her once, as the two stared deeply into one another's gaze, "You…can use white magic?"

Aerith smiled and gave him a simple nod, her magical powers completely healing him.

With each passing moment with her, Cloud became more impressed and equally more drawn to this mysterious flower girl. There was much more to her then he anyone would have expected, and she was truly something special. Cloud knew that only those with a good heart could use restorative magic, the most powerful of all light magic. Aerith was no different, and her ability to use and possess this white magic was incredibly skilled.

His lips twitched upwards, unable to take his eyes off of her.

A moment later, the green mist settled and dissolved into Cloud before fading away entirely. With the two of them staring deeply into one another's eyes, their faces just mere inches apart and her hand still resting on his stomach, the two of them stayed like that for a long moment – both of them not wanting that physical touch between them to end or to be taken away from the endless, captivated gaze into the eyes of the other.

Cloud nervously cleared his throat and he blushed, biting his lip to prevent him from smiling as Aerith slowly removed her hand from under his shirt.

Aerith brushed a stray brunette strand of hair over her ear. She was happy that she was able to help and heal Cloud and frankly, she wouldn't mind touching his strong chest and stomach again, she thought with a dark blush. She chuckled to herself, "See? Good as new."

"That…was...," Cloud was unsure of what to say, still marveling at the flower girl's incredible magical abilities. "I've…never seen anything like that before in my life. Thank you…Aerith."

"Of course, Cloud," she smiled and slowly helped him to his feet. "You're my bodyguard. I couldn't leave you behind."

Cloud smiled and blushed, reaching down to pick up the crystal shard Aerith had placed there. "Well, looks like we found what we came for. That beast was defeated…and you have the crystal."

Aerith nodded, "It's just the thing Merlin needs to enact that spell. It could be just the thing that helps keep the darkness away from our town for good."

Cloud nodded and stared around the crystal cavern, before turning back to the flower girl. "We should get back…in case more fiends decide to show up."

Aerith nodded and the two of them left the crystal cavern, slowly walking back up the way they had come down the ravine trail, back up towards the castle.

* * *

It wasn't long before the two of them had made it back to the outer gardens, where they had met one another just earlier that day, where Cloud had fallen over the castle wall and landed in one of Aerith's flower patches.

Cloud slowly paced through the garden and up towards one of the castle gates, Aerith falling in step with him closely behind him. Once just below the castle wall, Cloud gave a heavy sigh, knowing that it was time he'd have to part ways with the flower girl.

He turned back to her and offered her a small smile.

She stopped in place and the two of them stared at one another for a brief moment, before Aerith gave a small chuckle. She tilted her head and smiled at the blonde-haired soldier, "So, I guess…this is where we say goodbye."

"Yeah, for now," Cloud scratched the back of his head and smiled. "So, you probably want this," he said, handing the crystal shard over to her.

"Right, the crystal. Thank you," Aerith said, taking it from him and placing it in her flower basket. "I really appreciate it, Cloud. You didn't have to help me."

"I wanted to, Aerith," Cloud smiled at her. "And not just because I gave you a hard time earlier today…" he gave a small chuckle.

Aerith laughed and shook her head, "You more than made up for it. I'll have to find some way to repay you, Cloud. I haven't forgotten about that."

"You really don't have to, Aerith," Cloud defended.

"I want to, Cloud," Aerith smiled at him. "I'll think of something, so I'm sure you'll see me again. Hopefully, next time not 'stealing' some flowers…"

The two shared a laugh beneath the castle wall. Cloud remarked to himself, remembering Aerith's cheerful expression as she laughed. The flower girl, herself, took in Cloud's laugh. It was so rare, but felt like a beautiful melody to her ears and it made her heart soar. Their laughter quieted, as they remarked to one another about their day's adventure.

"Which reminds me…" Cloud said, leading her to one of the flower patches and crouching down in front of it.

"What are you doing?" Aerith asked him, kneeling down next to him and the flower patch.

"Still making up for earlier," Cloud said with a smile as he reached into the flower patch and plucked a beautiful yellow and white carnation from the bed, the same type she had given him the evening before.

"For you," Cloud said with a blush and a tight-lipped smile.

Aerith smiled down at the flower, appreciating its' beauty, before her eyes slowly wandered up to his again, seeing his already staring _so deeply_ into hers, as if he'd been staring directly into her very soul.

He felt that new, wonderful feeling within him rise again, the warmth that came from within his heart; the very same warmth that he felt whenever they'd gazed into one another's eyes.

She, too, couldn't bring herself to break her gaze with the handsome blonde-soldier, the very same one who'd literally fallen into her life, the one she couldn't stop thinking about. She felt a warm glow from within her heart, something she couldn't describe, but the feeling was unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

The two of them broke away from their gaze then, when Aerith gingerly took the flower from him and placed it in her flower basket. The next several moments passed in quiet, as the two of them picked flowers together, filling her basket up with the most beautiful assortment the flower girl had ever seen. Once content, they both rose to their feet and Cloud gave Aerith's flower basket to her.

Cloud grinned at her, "Well, this is good. We got rid of that monster…"

"…And I got my flowers and that crystal," Aerith smiled, and placed the flower basket over her arms. "We…we both got what we wanted."

Cloud nodded and spoke softly to her, an almost sad expression appearing on his face as they began parting ways. "Well, wherever you're going, be careful. If you need anything-"

"You'll find me," Aerith finished, looking up at him, longingly, a deep gaze shared between them.

"Wherever you are," Cloud nodded and smiled. "I'm your bodyguard, right?"

"And I wouldn't want it any other way…" Aerith finished.

Cloud slowly stepped backwards from her, almost unable to break away. "Well, goodbye, Aerith."

She smiled warmly at him, "Goodbye, Cloud. Thank you for everything."

The two of them slowly parted ways from one another, as Cloud made his way back towards the castle gates while Aerith went in the opposite direction back towards the town.

Aerith stopped walking then and slowly turned back, watching the blonde-haired soldier return to the castle gate. A longing look appeared on her face then, watching the man walk away. When she felt her heart soar when she saw him, she knew that what she felt…was something special, something extraordinary _for him._ And it was a feeling that she never wanted to let go of.

She longingly stared at him from across the garden for another moment, before turning back down the path with a hopeful sparkle in her eyes.

At that same moment, once he'd reached the castle gate, Cloud stopped and looked over his shoulder to see the beautiful flower girl walk back towards the town. His heart told him that he wanted more than anything to just run to her and keep her with him, to never let go of that feeling of warmth and happiness and understanding that she'd given him. With her, his whole world seemed… _brighter_ , suddenly filled with endless possibilities, none of which he'd ever thought before.

He happily sighed and leaned up against the castle wall, watching as the flower girl disappeared beyond the path.

"Oh," Cloud suddenly reached up and placed a hand over his heart, feeling his heartbeat quicken when he thought of Aerith.

Then, he knew.

He told himself he'd know the feeling clearly if he'd ever be lucky enough to feel it.

Cloud's day had ended the same way it began – with him falling, only now, it was for _her_.

* * *

Thank you all so much for reading this next chapter! We're finally getting to some good Cloud/Aerith bits. It'll be a long adventure to come though! I hope you enjoyed, please read and review! Thanks and have a great day!


	4. On Town Patrol

Thank you all to those who have read! I hope you enjoyed! I was able to crank out this next chapter very quickly as this story is practically writing itself for me, but I'm really enjoying myself writing and I hope you guys enjoy it, too! Please read and review!

 **Chapter Four – On Town Patrol**

Aerith continued down the street, back towards her house. With her flower basket in hand, she opened the lid and peered inside, making sure that the crystal shard was secure.

She smiled to herself and couldn't help but think of Cloud. He was so willing to help her, even going to the lengths of becoming her bodyguard, and she admired that.

'I want to do something for him,' she thought to herself. 'But what?'

She walked up the steps to her house and stepped inside.

"Aerith, there you are," Yuffie called out to her.

The flower girl turned inside to see Cid, Squall, RInoa and Yuffie gathered at the table there, looking up at her as she stepped inside. She tilted her head and smirked, "Am I missing something?"

"No, other than what I told you earlier about staying safe at the house with that monster running around," Squall said with an agitated sigh.

Aerith squinted her eyes and laughed, "And you really thought I would listen. You should know better by now, Squall."

"Point taken."

"Told him the same thing," Rinoa laughed.

"Anyway," Aerith began, setting her flower basket down on the table," we don't have to worry about that monster or the crystal shard. I took care of it." She opened the basket and retrieved the translucent ore from within, setting it down on the table in front of them.

"Ooh, pretty…" Yuffie mewled, examining the crystalline stone, reaching out to grab it, but found that it was swiped by Squall before she could lay a finger on it.

"Oh, no you don't. You get your hands on this thing and we'll never see it again," Squall said.

"Pfft, whatever," Yuffie said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms like a child that had just had their favorite toy taken away.

"That the damn crystal that the old geezer needs," Cid asked.

"Mhm, once we give it to Merlin, he'll be able to complete the potion to protect the town," Rinoa said, examining the crystal in her boyfriend's hand. "At least it should drive the darkness away a little."

Squall looked up at flower girl, curious, "So, did you find the crystal and take that monster down on your own? You know how dangerous that could be, Aerith."

The flower girl sighed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, "Ohh, enough about the danger, Squall! I'm more than capable of taking care of things on my own. Besides, I…had some help."

Rinoa raised her eyebrow and looked over curiously at her best friend, "Oh?"

Aerith shrugged and smiled innocently, "What?"

The raven-haired young women placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head, "What's his name?"

The flower girl blushed and her smile grew. She stammered, "Who said it was a _him_?"

"She's blushing. It's totally a him," Yuffie said quickly.

"Oh, it so is," Rinoa smirked.

Aerith laughed, "Wait, no! I jus-"

"So, what's his name?" What's he do," Yuffie asked.

"Guys, it's nothing, " Aerith laughed.

Squall rolled his eyes, "Hey, come on, guys. Let's get back on track about the crystal."

Yuffie averted her attention from Squall, pointing to Aerith. "Hang on, this is interesting. Aerith, continueeee…"

"Yeah, we have to find out about who Aerith's new mystery boyfriend is," Rinoa said with a teasing laugh.

Aerith's eyes widened and her face reddened, "He's not my boyfriend!"

"But you want him to be? Yes or no," Yuffie asked in one breath.

"Yes…wait, what?! I'm…uh," she laughed nervously and averted her gaze. "Um, what…what was the question?"

Rinoa laughed and shook her head, "You know what it is, Aerith!"

"She definitely likes him," Yuffie smiled at Rinoa. "Look at her face!"

"Oh, absolutely," Rinoa said back.

Aerith, flustered and feeling the warmth rush to her cheeks, couldn't help but lift her hands to her face to cover her immense blush. Though, she decided to remain silent because they were right! She did like him.

Cid removed the cigar from his mouth, "Alright, calm down, ya two dopes and leave the girl alone!"

Aerith patted the mechanic on the shoulder and took the set next to him, "Thank you, Cid – always lookin' out for me." She smiled at him, removing the cigar from his mouth and disposing of it.

Cid grunted in response and replaced the cigar with a toothpick from his pocket. "Listen, I don't give a #%$ whatever the hell ya kids do. If you wanna be with this $^%#&$' mystery boyfriend, then do whatever the #%$ you want."

"Notmyboyfriend," Aerith whispered under her breath.

"As long as he's treatin' you right, that's all that matters," Cid said.

"And if he's not," Squall asked with a smirk.

"I'll break his #$%&^$' arms to make sure he don't touch ya," Cid said, rising from the table.

Aerith suppressed a giggle. When Cid's overprotectively fatherly side for her came to the surface, it sure as hell _shattered_ through the surface like a bullet. Maybe a bit to the extreme, but having someone look after her and her best interest was more than Aerith could have asked. She appreciated the fatherly role he played more than anything.

Aerith laughed and looked up at Cid, "Well, you won't have to worry about that. I can tell he's a good guy, Cid. No breaking any bones, okay?"

"Sure, sure," Cid said, before turning to Squall. "That goes for you, too, sonny!" He pointed towards Rinoa, "Don't you go ^#%$ " that up and screwin' with her!"

Squall rose his hands in defense, "I didn't do anything!"

Rinoa set Squall's hands down and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head lightly down on his chest. "Take it easy, Cid. Squall's the best guy I could have asked for." She smiled, leaning up to kiss him.

Cid moved out from the table and began making his way to the den, looking out the window. "Y'all better think about gettin' that crystal to that old geezer tomorrow. It's getting' dark out there. Old wizard's probably half-asleep by now."

Yuffie smirked, "You talk about him like he's so much older. Aren't you both like…two-hundred years old?"

"Ehh…shut up," Cid said, brushing her off. "I'm at my prime right now. You could only hope to look as good when you're my age, ya brat."

"Yes, looking exactly like you is my dream," Yuffie said, shaking her head as her sarcasm seemed to go over his head.

"Where are you off to," Squall asked the mechanic.

"Where else? Back to workin' on that damn flyin' ship I been workin' on forever. Keep getting' these damn setbacks, missin' parts and #$% . I just wanna get this damn thing up in the air already," the mechanic said.

"Well, when you get it finished, please let me know so I know not to go anywhere near it," Yuffie admonished. "Putting my life in your hands is the last thing I need."

"I'll never finish the damn thing when you're always breakin' my #$%^&#" equipment!" Cid shouted.

Yuffie shook her head and gave a half-smile, "Okay, that only happened once…today."

Mumbling a set of colorful expletives under his breath, Cid disappeared into the den and down into the basement of the house, where he'd usual work late into the night on his many inventions and machines, but most recently – a small flying ship that he had nicknamed the AirShip.

His dream had always been to fly and become the greatest pilot that ever sailed, but up until this point, that dream had gone by the wayside. He'd crafted the model for this ship using previous inventions and discarded scrap pieces found around town, but it was still far from being completed. He'd tested his ships many times before, but they were all met with the same result – a loud crash into the ground and him nearly breaking every bone in his body.

He swore to himself though that one of these days, he'd sail into the sky and his life-long goal would have been achieved.

"So, now that the old man's gone, back to some more pressing matters," Yuffie said, leaning her elbows on the table and looking at the flower girl. "Sooo? What's his name?"

Aerith smiled at the young ninja.

"Come on, Aer," Rinoa pried.

Aerith blushed and gently bit on her lip, "Okay, okay. His name is Cloud. He's a castle guard."

"Cloud, huh," Yuffie said, looking at the flower girl with a smirk.

"We've only met each other a few times, but…he really did us a favor. He nearly got himself killed facing that monster and he helped me get the crystal," Aerith explained, a gentle smile on her lips when she thought of him. "He's a really good guy."

"Hmm, sounds like it," Rinoa said with a smile, closely watching the dreamy gaze on her friend's face. "You seem quite taken with him."

Aerith's cheeks grew a crimson color as she rose from her seat. She tilted her head and shrugged with a wry smile, not saying anything else to her friends. It was more fun that way.

"Oh, Aerith! Come ooooon," Rinoa called out to her.

"Goodnight," she called down to her friends.

Rinoa and Yuffie looked at each other with a smile. "She might not tell us how's she's feeling, but she doesn't need to. We can see it from the look on her face."

Squall smirked and crossed his arms, "Well, then I can't wait til Aerith introduces us all to her new boyfriend."

"I heard that," Aerith shouted down from the staircase. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"That's the problem!" Rinoa shouted back.

* * *

The next day, with his Buster Sword strapped on his back, Cloud ascended the steps into the marketplace. It was a usual day, the place buzzing with townspeople making their way from each of the carts and stores, filing in and out of the square to continue with their day.

For the day, Cloud had been put on town patrol again, much to his liking, as it gave him free roam over the whole town and made the day seem to go by faster.

If it hadn't been for Aerith yesterday, he'd been stuck inside the castle grounds all day, with not much to do other than wander through the gardens and castle halls, trying his best not to interfere with Ansem or any of his apprentices as they discreetly made their way around the grounds.

'Aerith…' Cloud thought to himself, thinking of the lovely flower girl as his lips twitched upwards. 'I wonder if she's selling flowers today…'

He remembered the smile she had when he gave her one munny for a flower. He would have given her his entire day's pay if it meant receiving all those radiant smiles.

The blonde-soldier arrived at a landing in the marketplace which looked over the rest of the square. Cloud's eyes quickly darted through the plaza, looking between the carts and people for any sign of her – the pink dress, the long brown hair, those impressive, beautiful green eyes.

Cloud sighed, almost as if falling into a daydream about _her_ – the flower girl his mind and heart could not forget.

"What do you think you're doing," a familiar voice asked from behind him. Cloud sighed, knowing it belonged to Dilan, one of two of his lead guard commanders.

Cloud turned back to his commander and shrugged. He replied blandly, "I'm doing my job. The one you gave me this morning. Everything's good here."

"Well, this place is clear. Try going to another one," Dilan scoffed and sneered at the blonde-soldier. "We're not paying you to stare off into nothingness."

"No, you're paying me to protect this town – which is what I've been doing," Cloud retorted.

"Maybe, but you've been skirting your duties, too," the commander said.

"What are you talking about," Cloud turned to his leader with an angry expression.

Dilan smirked and turned from him, looking down at the town from below the marketplace landing. "Don't think we don't know about the flower girl you meandered off with yesterday."

Cloud's angry expression faded, "What?"

"Don't be a fool, Strife. We have eyes and ears everywhere," Dilan said. "We know you abandoned your position to escort her with…whatever the hell she was doing. I don't know what she needed, it wasn't _my_ place to know…and neither was it _yours_."

Cloud looked down, almost feeling guilty that he'd been caught, "She…she just needed my help. For a little bit. She's trying to help protect the town."

"No, what she's doing is causing a distraction to you. Ansem hand-picked you because he believed you'd be a hard-working member of our team, but that doesn't mean you get a free pass," Dilan said. "You're replaceable if you don't hold your weight, understood?"

Cloud looked down and shook his head, "She's…she's not a distraction."

Dilan let out a low, dark chuckle. "What a stupid thing to say. I saw you daydreaming about her like a fool, Strife. You might try to fool yourself, but there's no fooling me," the commander gave the blonde a stern look. "Harden your heart, Cloud, it wasn't made to understand such meaningless feelings."

"But…I'm…" Cloud closed his eyes and sighed, feeling this sharp pain in his chest, "…her bodyguard."

"No. You're not," Dilan corrected. "You're a royal guard – start acting like it. Let go of these flimsy affections and daydreams about that peasant girl and start focusing on what's more important to you."

The commander turned away from the blonde then.

Cloud scowled, feeling a pained mixture of hurt and sadness somewhere in his chest. "You're heart couldn't feel anything even if it wanted to," he mumbled under his breath about the commander.

"What did you just say?" Dilan called back to Cloud.

Cloud looked up at his approaching leader. "Nothing."

"No, go on." Dilan tilted his head, an expression on the borders of anger forming, "If you have something to say, then just say it."

"You're heart couldn't feel anything even if it wanted to," Cloud said, firmly this time, loud enough for anyone in the marketplace to hear.

Dilan stared down at the blonde for a long moment, a coldness in his eyes. Slowly, a wry smile appeared on his lips. "Exactly. The heart is weak, Cloud. If it were possible, it would be far easier to exist without the meaningless complexities of the heart." He turned from the blonde and began pacing forward, "Now, tell me – when has your heart _truly_ felt anything?"

Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but it closed, and he looked down. He remained quiet, but then his head shook. His voice quivered and came small like a whisper, "Never."

"And you'd be better off keeping it that way," Dilan smirked and walked away from the blonde then. "Now, get back to work and don't let me catch you slacking off again."

The blonde it would have been proper respect to respond back to his commander, but he remained silent, slowly beginning to detest his commander.

Cloud felt conflicted. On one hand, he had Barret telling him to let the walls down around his heart and to _open_ it the possibility of the _goodness_ that could fill it, but on the other, there was Dilan, who told him to _harden_ his heart to keep _everything_ out. He didn't know what to believe and didn't know what choice would be the better one.

There was one thing he did know – that his heart _had_ truly felt something just the day before, on the contrary to what he told his commander.

When he was with Aerith, his heart felt so many things for the first time – things that made him happy, made him feel stronger, made him no longer feel alone, and sometimes, feelings that even scared him. It was a mixture of so many feelings his heart contained that he never even knew it could feel.

Unlike what Dilan believed, feeling these emotions was far better than never feeling anything at all, Cloud thought to himself.

Even if his commander could never understand the heart and all the emotions it could contain, Cloud was starting to and, much to his surprise, he felt his heart become _stronger_ for it.

* * *

The heavy wooden door to Merlin's house slowly creaked open and Yuffie peeked inside. "Merlin?"

Merlin looked up from his study and closed the book he was reading, "Ah, I was wondering when you'd return."

The ninja was followed into the small house by Squall, Rinoa and Aerith, who moved towards the wizard and the cauldron.

"So, you have what we need then? The crystal," Merlin asked, fidgeting the flimsy glasses on his eyes.

"It's right here," Squall said, retrieving the stone from his pocket and handing it over to the old wizard.

The wizard rose the crystal to his face to examine the ore closer, taking in its' bright translucence, "Wonderful, I believe this is just what we need!"

"So…" Rinoa began, "How exactly does this spell work? If it's going to push away the darkness, do the Unversed just disappear?"

"Yeah, I'm wonderin' that too," Yuffie chimed in. "How do we know this spell worked…if it can work at all?"

Merlin nodded and traced his hand through his beard. "All good questions, my dears. A good, useful protection spell should be able to propel the darkness and drive the Unversed away, but…"

"There's always gotta be a 'but'," Yuffie sighed.

"I've never had to cast such a magical barrier against such a strong force," Merlin explained. "While it may work on weakening the darkness, it's possibly that small cracks can appear in the barrier, allowing the darkness to slip through and fracture those cracks even more."

"That…doesn't sound good," the ninja sighed.

"At least we're able to do something for the time being," Aerith explained. "At this rate, it's worth doing anything that could keep the Unversed away. They're growing more powerful by the day."

"She's right," Squall said, looking between the ninja and the wizard. "More of them have started appearing throughout town. Even just this morning, we must have encountered half a dozen groups of them just from making our way through town."

Aerith sighed and crossed her arms, "And, well, for skilled fighters, they're no problem, but…for the rest of the town…?"

"They can be a real issue," Squall finished.

"Well then, we'd better get this potion brewing, shall we," Merlin said, waving them over to the cauldron at the corner of the room.

Retrieving his wand from the sleeve of his long, blue tunic, Merlin waved the magical item through the air, before a stream of fire emanated from within. The fire sent the logs in the hearth ablaze and within moments, the blue liquid substance in the cauldron began to bubble.

Squall, RInoa, Aerith and Yuffie looked over the cauldron's edge, seeing the fluid begin to glow an unusual golden aura around it.

"Does that mean it's working," Yuffie said, turning to the old wizard.

"Quite so, my dear," Merlin said, as she rose the crystal above the cauldron. "Right then, away we go."

The crystal was dropped into the bubbling liquid wish a splash. From what they could see, it looked as though the clear ore absorbed the color of the liquid, almost as if it was taking in its' power and energy. The crystal began to fracture and break apart, chipping away, as it was dissolved into the liquid, completing the spell.

Then, the cauldron stopped boiling and the liquid steadied.

The group watched over the cauldron for a long moment, patiently waiting for some sign that the spell had worked.

The ninja impatiently tapped her foot, "Nothing's happening…"

"Does this mean that the spell failed," Rinoa asked the wizard.

"Just a moment," Merlin said, calling their attention back to the cauldron.

Just as the wizard spoke, the liquid within the cauldron began bubbling again, churning and spewing upwards, the potion beginning to ooze and drip over the dark rim of the cauldron.

"Oh, dear…" Merlin said, his eyes widening.

"What's happening," Aerith asked quickly, taking a few steps back from the cauldron along with the others.

"Oh! The spell's working! It's working, alright!," Merlin said, watching as the potion practically overflowed from the cauldron. "Lad and lasses, if I were you I would…take cover!"

The group slowly walked backwards, watching as the cauldron sputtered and rumbled, spewed and threw smoke up into the air. They made it to the other side of the small room, taking shelter behind a tall chair and a wardrobe and watched as the cauldron shook violently.

"This should be it now!" Merlin said, calling out to the others.

Just then, a solid stream of golden light shot up from within the cauldron and pierced through the roof, burning through the ceiling and ascending towards the sky. It was like a bright pillar of solid gold that raced upwards and upwards, rising high above all of Radiant Garden. Once the spell had finalized and the golden stream of light peaked, the tip of the beam them expanded outwards, creating a wavy, golden aura that blanketed across the sky.

Aerith moved towards the window of the house and watched as the spell took place. From within the glass, she could see the golden aura of the barrier wrap across the sky and slowly move down towards the earth, completely surrounding the town and castle.

It was like a vast barrier was cast around their world, almost as if it was wrapped and contained within some mystical, protective bubble. Once all edges of the barrier had met, the entire magical wall glowed with a bright golden aura for a long moment, shimmering and moving as if it was made of fine silk. When the barrier was completed around the town, the golden aura faded and all returned to as it was.

A silence passed between the group then, as Merlin looked up from the cauldron to his ceiling, spotting the large hole in his roof, where the spell had quite literally burnt through it.

"Oh, confound it all," Merlin shouted and with another mystical wave of his wand, the roof went to repairing itself on its' own.

"So, it worked," Yuffie asked the wizard, looking around at her friends.

"Oh, most definitely," Merlin said, turning his attention towards the ninja. "The Unversed and whatever darkness within the town should have been driven away from the sheer force of that spell. It would take quite the amount of darkness to break down that barrier."

"Let's go check on the town, " Aerith said, as she opened the wooden door to the town streets, searching for the effect the spell had over their world.

* * *

Elsewhere in town, Cloud had been caught in battle against a swarm of Unversed that had appeared in the town square. The creatures were just like the other he'd faced and served no match against the skilled blonde soldier.

Cloud sliced and cut through the dark-ridden creatures, each of them imploding into a cloud of blackness as the heavy sword sliced through them.

Amidst the heat of battle, Cloud caught sight of something in the sky then - a golden aura which streaked across the sky, acting as a barrier of sorts. Cloud watched as the golden barrier descended towards the earth, wrapping the town, mountains and castle within.

As the magical aura met the ground, the blonde soldier watched as the Unversed reacted. Their bodies convulsed and twisted, as the magical barrier seemed to hit a nerve within them, a painful one. One by one, each of the Unversed imploded into a black smog, leaving no trace of them behind.

Cloud watched as each of the Unversed dissipated into the air. 'That barrier…is pushing the Unversed away and destroying them.' He smiled to himself, watching as the barrier faded, 'Aerith, you did it.'

"Yo, Spike!"

Cloud turned to see Barret running up to him. "Hey, what's up."

"You see that?" Barret said, pointing up towards the sky. "I don't know what the hell that was, but it completely took out all those goddamn Unversed! I was fightin' 'em and every, single one of those little freaks got zapped!"

"Same here," Cloud examined. "Looks like thing'll be a little more quiet in town for the time being."

"We can only hope so, Spike," said Barret with a laugh. "Better get goin' with my day before the commanders goddamn yell at me for breathin' too long."

"What did they assign you to do today? Castle patrol?"

"Nah, somethin' I can't wrap my mind around," Barret said, placing his hand on his chin.

"What's wrong," the blonde asked.

Barret tossed Cloud a concerned stare, "Dilan and Aeleus told me somethin' unusual this mornin' about my mission. They were sayin' that it's been reported that people were startin' to disappear in town…"

"Disappear?"

"Yeah, they been turnin' up missin', at least that's what those two numbskull commanders tell me," Barret said. "They been sayin' that it wasn't somethin' to be worried about at first, but then the disappearances started happenin' too often and it…well, it just don't sound too good."

Cloud's brows furrowed, deep in concern, "That _is_ unusual. What could have happened? Do you think it had something to do with the Unversed?"

"I don't know, Spike, but that's somethin' they wanted me to do a little diggin' into, but so far I've come up with nothin'," Barret explained. "People don't jus' go dissapearin' into thin air, Spike."

"No, they don't…" Cloud said to himself.

"And with more monsters comin' 'bout like that thing you told me you faced yesterday, it's just a mess a things," said Barret, before making his way across the town square. "I better head off and continue lookin' round for clues."

"You need help," Cloud asked the man.

Barret turned back and smirked, "Don't need ya leavin' your position again like ya did yesterday, Spike!"

Cloud rolled his eyes and sighed, covering his face. "So, the commanders told you about that, didn't they?"

"Yepp," Barret smiled, "But unlike those two numbskulls, I know you had good reasonin' and weren't slackin' off. So don't sweat it, Spike."

"Too late," Cloud sighed and lowered his eyes. "Dilan already chewed me out earlier, so I think I won't be on their good side for a little bit."

"Man, forget what those jackasses say or think," said Barret, before patting the blonde on the soldier. "Don't let two dumbass #%$ #% break you down, man. They ain't worth the trouble!"

Cloud smirked and looked up at Barret, "So, it wasn't just me that was really starting to get pissed off by them?"

"Just you? HELL NO, SPIKE!" Barret practically shouted, "I been holdin' back punchin' those two pissheads in the throat since we started this damn job!"

The blonde chuckled a little, "Me, too. Thanks, Barret."

"Don't mention it, Spike, jus' don't let 'em give you a hard time again or they'll be dealin' with the BOTH of us and I don't think they can handle that," Barret said, before making his way off across the square to continue his day.

Cloud smirked as he watched his comrade run off.

He wouldn't say that he and Barret particularly got along. It seemed that ever since the two of them started the job, the two of them had different views on life, different opinions and perspectives and shared very little in common. The two of them both knew that they didn't necessarily agree or get along with one another and that they didn't consider themselves friends, either.

But, when it came to the two irritating commanders they worked for, they both understood that the enemy of their enemy…was their friend.

Cloud started his walk through the square when something from above him caught his eyes. He looked up towards the sky, where he saw a small black feather fall from the air and land just before his feet.

'What the hell,' he said, looking down at the dark, black feather. He glanced up towards the sky, searching for where the feather had come from, but… _nothing_.

A moment later, the feather was carried away with the wind and left just as quickly as it had come. Cloud stood there and took another moment to look around, still puzzled. Standing there, he couldn't shake the feeling like he was being spied on, an unsettling feeling that sent a cold shiver up his spine.

Letting his paranoia get the best of him, he tightly gripped onto the handle of his Buster Sword and made his way from the town square, trying to brush off the uneasiness that he felt as best as he could.

He didn't know the black feather meant, but in time, he would…

'I'd better go check on the rest of the town. This place is covered.'

* * *

"Look at this," Yuffie said, as she freely walked down the street. "Not a single Unversed in sight!"

"The spell must have really packed a punch then if it wiped out all of them from the town," Squall mused. "At least the townspeople can rest a little easier knowing that these creatures won't be lurking around again anytime soon."

"We can only hope," Rinoa said with a smile.

Aerith breathed in and sighed happily, making her way down the street with the rest of her friends. "Well, that takes care of that then. At least our quiet town could go back to being, well…a little more quiet."

"Uh-huh!" Yuffie cheered, "And it's all thanks to us, the Radiant Garden Protection Committee! Oh, and Merlin, too!"

"And you can't forget Aerith's new boyfriend, too," Rinoa passed a wink to the flower girl who silently blushed in response.

Yuffie perked up, "Oh, right! Right! Um, what was his name again…?"

"Cloud…" Aerith breathed out, her eyes lighting up when she saw the soldier walk from around the street corner in front of them.

"Right, Cloud!" Yuffie said, watching as Aerith's pace quickened down the street, as she moved in front of all of them.

"Aerith? What's the rush," Squall called out to his younger sister.

"Cloud!" The flower girl called out to the blonde soldier as she quickly made her way down the street after him.

When he heard his name being called out, the blonde soldier recognized the soft voice immediately and his heart fluttered, turning around to see the flower girl running towards him. He couldn't help the smile that formed on his face and his reddening cheeks.

"Aerith," Cloud spoke out just as he reached her.

She stopped just in front of him, as she took a quick moment to catch her breath. "We completed the spell! The town should be safe from the Unversed now."

"I saw the barrier come around the town," Cloud nodded, "It took out all the Unversed I was fighting. Really made my day easier. Thanks."

Aerith shook her head and playfully laughed, "Don't thank me, Cloud. You helped me protect the town when you didn't have to. I'm…really grateful, Cloud."

"Ohhhhh, so _this_ is Cloud, huh, Aer," Yuffie's voice came from behind them, as the ninja approached with Rinoa and Squall.

Aerith turned back to her friends, as they gathered in a small group. She couldn't help but blush and bit down on her lip to keep her smile from growing. She turned back to Cloud and stammered, "O-oh, Cloud, this is Yuffie and Squall, we're all like family. And this is Rinoa, Squall's girlfriend and my best friend."

Cloud gave a quiet, reserved nod and a small smile at the introductions.

"Wow, doesn't talk much, does he," Yuffie teased and looked at the flower girl.

"Yuffie, leave him alone!" Aerith teased back, knowing that the soldier was the shy, introverted type and really didn't want to do anything to upset or make him feel uncomfortable. She turned to Cloud and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Aw, well, don't worry, Cloud!" Yuffie continued, "Aerith told us all about how you helped her out yesterday with getting what we needed for the spell. She couldn't stop talking about you all last night, Cloud!"

"Yuffie!" Aerith admonished, her face turning bright red at the confession.

Cloud did his best to suppress his laugh and covered his growing smile with his hand.

The ninja shrugged and looked at Rinoa, whispering quietly, "What? It's true. You were there, you heard her."

"Real subtle, Yuffie," Rinoa whispered back.

Aerith giggled and sheepishly turned back to Cloud, a genuine smile on her face, "I was just…telling them all that I was just really appreciative that you helped us out."

Cloud shook his head and grinned, "It was no problem. I was happy to help, Aerith."

Aerith smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling when he looked into them.

Rinoa, on the verge squealing at watching her best friend so smitten, shook her head and grabbed hold of Yuffie's arm and Squall's hand, "You know what? Why don't we just leave you guys alone to catch up? I'm sure Aerith can tell you all about the…uh, spell getting cast by Merlin and whatnot," she said with a girlish laugh. "Come on, guys! Let's go."

Yuffie whined, "Awww, but…but I wanted to see Aer-"

"Nope, come on, you! You've done enough," Rinoa said, dragging the ninja away and trying to help Aerith's encounter go as smoothly as she could, something she knew the flower girl would thank her for later. She waved at the soldier, "Bye, Cloud! It was nice meeting you! Hope to see you again soon."

Squall gave Cloud a small nod and a smirk, "Thanks for your help, Cloud. We appreciate it." He quickly made the way down the street after his girlfriend and the ninja.

Once the others were gone, Aerith turned to him and blushed, "Sorry about that."

Cloud shrugged and brushed it off, "It's okay. They seem nice."

The flower girl smirked, "Well, they're like family. Squall and Rinoa seemed to be friendly enough and Yuffie, well…just don't let her scare you. She could be a lot to handle sometimes," Aerith finished with a small laugh.

Cloud gave her a nod and leaned back against the wall of the building. He thought about Aerith and her group of friends and family. It was something he'd always want to be a part of himself. "Must be nice, though."

Aerith watched as the blonde let out a heavy sigh and leaned back against the wall. He tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes, a frown forming across his face.

She stepped up to him and tilted her head in concern. "Hey. You okay?" She spoke gently as she leaned towards him, "You seem a little down."

Cloud shook his head and grunted, "It's just been a long day. Had to get chewed out by one of my leaders earlier…so, my day was just not able to bounce back from that."

"About what?" Aerith asked.

Now, Cloud wished he hadn't said anything at all, due to his confrontation with Dilan earlier was primarily about helping her. "Oh, it…it was nothing important really."

Aerith sighed and stubbornly placed her hands on her hips, "Cloud…"

"What?" His hands rose up in defense as he playfully shot back.

She looked at him, squinting her eyes, "It was about yesterday, wasn't it? About helping me out?"

"I…um, well, it was jus-"

"I knew it," she said. "I'm so sorry, Cloud. I-I didn't mean to cause any more trouble for you. I'm…I'm sorry if I interfered with work…"

She made to leave, but Cloud quickly grabbed her hand before she could.

"No, you're not, Aerith," Cloud said, before looking down at their hands. Without a word, he quickly let go of her warm grasp and straightened, nervously scratching the back of his head.

Aerith sympathetically tilted her head up at him, "But Cloud, I don't want to see you getting a hard time at work…especially over me."

Cloud huffed up his chest and shook his head, "Well, unfortunately for my commanders, I don't care what they say. They might not be happy that I helped you out yesterday, but…I am. I know it's my job, but…sometimes, I have to focus on what's really important. I learned that today."

A captivated look appeared in her eyes then, as she stepped closer to him. "Helping me was really important to you?"

"Of course it was, Aerith." Cloud smirked and cockily tilted his head, "I'm your bodyguard, right? I gotta be there for you, no matter how much my leaders try to force me to be some 'work puppet' for them."

Aerith blushed at her bodyguard, "Something tells me you being some type of lap dog for your bosses isn't going to stick."

"You'd be right."

"Well, just don't go getting yourself into too much trouble over me, okay," she teased him. "I don't want to cause any problems for you."

"Hey," he quietly shushed her. "Don't you worry about it. You're far from trouble to me, Aerith…In fact, you're…well, you're…"

She waited patiently as he spoke. She'd never met anyone like Cloud before in her life, but she seemed to know how to handle and talk with him just fine. He opened up so comfortably and easily to her that he didn't even realize when he was doing it. She silently marveled at him – it was amazing how this strong and handsome soldier also had this boyish, shy charm about him that completely captivated her heart and kept her anticipating every word he spoke.

Cloud sighed and nervously scratched the back of his head, "What I mean to say is…after seeing you here, you turned my bad day into a really good one, Aerith…"

The flower girl blushed and turned towards away from him, "Same here, bodyguard."

Cloud looked down and hid a small thin-lipped smile.

She turned back to him and gave him a flirtatious smile, "You know, your day could still get better. I still want to repay you for helping me yesterday, especially _now_ after I find out it got you in trouble. I have to do something for you now!"

The blonde shook his head and chuckled at her determination, "No, Aerith. Really, you don't have to."

"Hmmm," Aerith placed a finger on her chin and acted as if she was deep in thought. She looked up at him and gave him another flirtatious smile, "How about we go out some time?"

"Go out?" Cloud's eyes widened in question, truly hoping she meant what he thought she did. "Like a…"

"Yeah, you know, like a date," Aerith nodded and leaned towards him, looking up into his eyes. "It could be a fun day for just the two of us."

Cloud blushed and gulped down, his heart beating faster. He felt like he was going to wake up any second and this was all going to be a dream. This couldn't have been real. Why would a beautiful, good-hearted woman like her want to go on a date with someone like him, at least that's what he kept telling himself. He thought this had to be a joke.

Aerith looked around town. "I know Radiant Garden isn't the most…'entertaining' and 'suitable' place for dates since not much really happens in town, but I'm sure we could think of something."

Cloud looked at her, almost confused. "Wait…really?"

"Hm?"

"You…really want to go on a date with me?" Cloud continued to stare at her, not fully able to grasp the concept.

Aerith nodded and smiled brightly up at him, "Of course I'd want that, silly. That's why I asked."

The blonde raised his eyebrows and took the words she said in. Of course she wanted to spend time with him. Even just thinking of anyone wanting to be with him seemed so strange to him, but here she was, more than willing to spend time with him and he had no clue what made him so special or so _lucky_ to receive a date from her.

Aerith blushed and tucked a hair behind her ear, "So, do you think you could take a day off from work? For me? I'd love it if you could go, Cloud."

He grinned and nodded, a bit too excitedly than he wanted to appear, "Of course, Aerith. It's a date."

Aerith beamed up at him, her eyes filled with happiness and excitement, "Thank you so much, Cloud! I'm really looking forward to it. When you know when you can get a day off, I'll have to plan something for just the two of us. Oh, I'm so happy, Cloud!"

The blonde soldier inwardly admired the adorable flower girl's excitement and happiness and it made his heart leap and his own lips slowly turn into a smile. "Well, now I have something to look forward to. I'm sure you'll plan something good. I…I can't wait, Aerith."

She smiled back at him and nodded, "Well, it'll just have to be soon then."

Cloud agreed and gave the flower girl an endearing smile, one that told her that she had completely turned his bad day around.

She tilted her head and swayed at the waist a little. "Well, I'd better get going. I'm sure the others will have a ton of questions for me once I get back home," she finished with a light giggle.

"Yeah, me too," Cloud smiled and looked up towards the setting sun in the sky. "It's getting a little dark out. How about I walk you?" He smiled down at her.

She looked into his deep blue eyes and nodded, "I'd like that very much."

* * *

The two of them made their way through the now peaceful town at sunset, talking and exchanging stories about their lives growing up in Radiant Garden. It was a pleasant and comforting exchange between the two of them, something that they both enjoyed and drew them closer to one another. They felt so content and secure being in one another's company, even when they didn't need to fill the space between them with words and stories. They couldn't help but take in every word, every laugh, and every smile that the other had to offer.

Before they knew, they stood at the foot of Aerith's house and the flower girl turned back to him with a wide smile. "This is my stop. Thanks for taking me home, Cloud."

He smiled up at her and shook his head, "Don't mention it, _flower girl_."

"Well, _bodyguard_ …" she teased," …if you keep doing such a good job taking care of me, I think I'll have to owe you a few more dates."

"I'd be more than happy to accept that offer," Cloud blushed and smiled back at her.

She gave a light laugh, before the two fell silent and shared a smile for one another. The setting sun cast an orange glow over the street, as the two stared at one another in content, the rest of the world seemingly melting away.

Cloud cleared his throat and scratched a hand through his hair. He looked up at her and gave her a quick, charming smile, only one for her to see. "Goodnight, Aerith."

Before Cloud could start trailing backwards down the street, unable to move his eyes away from her, Aerith quickly walked down the few steps towards him and gently placed her soft lips on his cheek, kissing him lightly.

Cloud tensed up and blushed greatly, his eyes widening when he felt the unexpected kiss from the beautiful flower girl, his breath getting caught in his throat.

Aerith pulled away, her lips lingering against the warmth of his cheek for just a moment. She tilted her head and smiled down at him, trying to keep in a giggle when she saw Cloud looking so flustered, paralyzed and even more adorable all at once.

"Goodnight, Cloud," she whispered to him, giving him a flirty wink and a beautiful smile, before disappearing into her home.

Cloud stood there for a moment, staring at the wooden door frame to the house, almost feeling as though he was frozen in place ever since the flower girl had shown him signs of affection that he'd never quite experienced.

Slowly, he raised his hand to his cheek where Aerith had kissed him, feeling a bit cliché as he had done so, as this was the type of stuff that filled romantic stories and books.

With his hand on his cheek, a big smile appeared on his face. What started off as a rough day of work was completely turned around by the young woman he couldn't take his mind off of and he was so grateful to her. Not only did she ask him out and want to spend more time with him, but to end his day, he received a small, simple kiss which seemed to make all of his life's hardships up until that point totally worthwhile.

'Wow…' he thought to himself, his hand still on his cheek, as he walked down the street with a warm smile on his face.

In that moment, Cloud Strife didn't know what he had done to be so lucky to have Aerith Gainsborough in his life, but now he'd hoped…that he'd never have to live a life again without her in it.

* * *

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope you enjoyed it!


	5. The Reactor

**Chapter Five – The Reactor**

Somewhere deep within Radiant Garden, hidden far beneath the surface, an evil, dark secret lurked, tucked away beyond where the rest of the town could see.

Amidst the sputtering stacks of smoke and computerized machines analyzing data, a series of glass cylinder containment units were scattered about the secret underground laboratory tucked away beneath Radiant Garden.

With a ferocious, inhumane cry of despair, a claw pressed its' hand up against the glass surface of its' prison.

At the helm of the control panel, an evil, mad professor stood, laughing gleefully.

"I've created a monster that cannot be controlled!" He exclaimed with enthusiasm as he watched the creature pound its heavy fists against the glass containment pod.

* * *

"Here. This is all the information that Ansem has released so far," Aelelus said, handing over a beige folder of papers to Cloud. "Try not to spread word of what's been happening just yet. It's best not to alarm the rest of Radiant Garden. We wait until Ansem gives us further instructions."

Cloud nodded, shuffling the folder under his arm.

"While on duty, see if you can uncover anything about this situation," Aelelus said, before dismissing the blonde.

Cloud nodded and slowly turned from his leader, trailing down towards the castle gates and back towards the rest of the town.

Nearly two weeks had passed since he started his job as the royal guard and met Aerith, but something had been troubling him and the rest of the guards.

There was a problem in Radiant Garden.

People had started disappearing in town. Now, quickly and routinely. Disappearing without a trace – as if they never even existed at all.

The worst part about it was that Cloud and the others couldn't wrap their minds around how or why it was happening. With nowhere else for the residents to go to, it made them question what could have happened then.

What was even more startling was that more monsters began appearing outside and within the town by the passing day. These creatures weren't anything like the Unversed or any darkness-born monsters, but rather just ferocious, highly advanced beings that prowled about the wild in search of its' prey.

The increase in monster sightings was another thing that the castle workforce couldn't get their minds around, but it did create more of a strict work day for Cloud, Barret and the other guards when the creatures started posing more of a threat.

"One problem solved, and another begins," Cloud sighed, slowly sauntering into town and plopping himself down on a bench just outside of the fountain courtyard.

Hesitantly, he moved the folder out from under his arms and opened it, flipping through the few papers that Ansem had composed about the situation of the missing residents. From the information gathered on the papers, it wasn't too much new information gathered that they didn't know already – a few locations of where people were last seen, physical descriptions of those gone missing and other notes left by Ansem hypothesizing about the nature of the monsters.

Cloud continued flipping through the pages, his brows furrowing deep in thought. He didn't like the idea of this, not only the monsters, but also that all of the news and information that was vital to the town seemed to come from Ansem or his apprentices and only released to the public what and when they wanted to. It seemed like a display of faulty politics that kept the vast majority in the dark – and that was quite frankly something Cloud did not appreciate.

"You look like something's troubling you," a man's voice said, pulling Cloud's focus up from the file.

Cloud quickly closed the folder and shuffled it to his side, seeing the familiar man that he'd seen with Aerith and their other friends that day, "You're…Squall, right?"

Squall nodded and took a seat on the bench next to Cloud. He curiously looked down at the beige folder and back up at the blonde, "So, what's on your mind?"

Cloud shook his head and sighed, tucking the folder under his arm, "It…it's nothing."

The brunette soldier tilted his head, letting Cloud know that he was one not to be fooled.

Cloud rolled his eyes and nodded, seeing where Aerith had somewhat learned her stubborn tendencies from. He sighed and handed the folder over to Squall, "Well, considering you and your friends are also working on protecting the town, I guess it wouldn't hurt if you were well-informed, too."

Squall took the folder from Cloud and read through the papers in front of him, closely examining the details of the reports that had been compiled. After a long moment, he looked up from the papers, "So, Ansem is aware of all this, after all…"

"Huh?" Cloud looked at him, "You already knew about the missing people?"

"Of course. It has sort of become hard to miss," the brunette said, crossing his arms. "Townspeople I'd used to see every day in town, the man that worked at the armory, the woman that sold groceries at the food market, many regular people that I'd used to see every day are now just… _gone_."

"That is unusual," Cloud said, crossing his arms alongside the brunette. "What could be causing this?"

"And with the increase of monsters lately, things don't look too well for Radiant Garden," Squall said with a sigh.

As if on cue, a monster's howl echoed from around the street corner, followed by a slew of cries from the scattering townspeople. Cloud and Squall quickly sat up, retrieving their swords.

"Speak of the devil."

The two raced off around the corner of the buildings and towards the cries of the monster. The two shot down an alley that opened up to the fountain courtyard and there, they saw the creature, what looked like a mangled wolf with razor-sharp claws and rows of viscous teeth.

Cloud gripped his buster sword and spoke out to Squall, "You know how to fight?"

"Hmph," Squall readied for battle. "Do you?"

The blonde and brunette soldiers launched into battle against the fiend, dodging out of the way of each of its' attack. Leading into the battle, the two could already tell it would be an easy match with the two of them together. With the two working in unison to defeat the monster, they timed their attacks perfectly so that as one attack finished, the other would follow through with the next, leaving only a slim window of time to give the enemy a chance to attack. It wasn't too long before the creature let out a cry of pain, before falling to the ground, defeated.

"Another one," Cloud said and looked at Squall.

"No match for us, but if more of those creatures get into town, the residents could be in some real trouble. They can't fight off creatures like that," Squall said. "Whatever these beings are, the protection spell Merlin set up isn't keeping them away. They must not be born of the darkness."

"Well, whatever they are, we have to find out where they're coming from and why they've come to our town," Cloud said.

Squall nodded, "I should probably go tell the others about the increased monster sightings. Let me know if anything comes up." He made his way off through the town back towards his home.

Cloud nodded and stood there for a moment, remembering what Squall had said. He still had a lot of questions about the town in his mind, but none of the answers seemed to bode well for Radiant Garden.

* * *

Aerith paced around the kitchen, setting down her flower basket on the counter and moving towards the window that looked out into the backyard of the home. The backyard was small, cramped and, for the most part filled with Cid's equipment pieces, what looked like half-finished aircrafts and heaps of scrap metal strewn about. To Cid, it was his privacy place to work on his craft, to the three that lived with him, it was a junkyard.

"He's still at it?" Yuffie asked from the kitchen table.

Aerith turned back from the window and smiled at the ninja and Rinoa who were sitting there, "Yep. You know Cid. He's never gonna give up until he gets one of those things out there flying. If he keeps at it, I'm sure he'll get it working."

"Well, you're quite optimistic," the ninja remarked and smirked at the flower girl.

"Hasn't Cid been working on those projects for years now," Rinoa asked.

Aerith laughed and smiled, sitting down with the other two girls at the table, "Yeah, but it's his dream. That's not something you give up on so easily. He'll keep working until he gets there."

Yuffie leaned on her elbows on the table and gave a curious smile to the flower girl, "So, how's Cloud been doing?"

The flower girl looked up from the table and blushed. She smiled and shook her head, "Oh, what? After the last time you saw him a week ago and were far too mouthy about him and I?"

Yuffie jokingly put her hands up in defense, "What?! I didn't do anything! I was just trying to help you two crazy kids out."

"A little more subtlety next time, Yuffie," Rinoa chimed in. "You were a bit too…forward, I think. They'd only just met."

"Oh, pfft! Whatever! That was over a week ago. I'm sure spikey's forgotten all about it," Yuffie said in a sing-song voice. "Anyway though, how is he doing?"

Aerith tilted her head and thought about the blonde soldier with a smile, "He's fine. He's been really busy keeping the town safe from all the monsters. It seems like he can't catch a break lately." She blushed as she continued, "But on some days, at sundown when I finish selling flowers, he'll…make his way through town to find me and he'll walk me home."

"Wait, wait!" Yuffie said, pointing at the flower girl.

"He goes looking through town for you," Rinoa asked with a smile.

Aerith blushed and nodded, "And he always finds me."

Rinoa nodded and took her friend's hand, "Aerith, you know what that means, right? It means he wants to see you more. I mean, he builds time into his day to walk you home and get some time with you."

"Well, he's my bodyguard, guys. I'm sure he's just doing it because he wants to make sure I'm safe and uphold is end of the deal," Aerith reasoned with them, but her heart was secretly wishing that there was something more Cloud had felt for her.

"Right, right, and what exactly did you tell me you were going to do to repay him," Yuffie said in mock questioning. "Oh, right! You said you were going to take him out on a date – which, as you said, he _happily_ accepted."

Aerith chuckled nervously, "Guys, he's just doing hi-"

"I don't mean to startle you, Aerith," Rinoa said with a guilty smile, "…but when Squall and I first started dating, he'd do the same exact thing. Every day, he'd come to the marketplace and look for me, even if we'd only talk for a few minutes and…well, look at us now. Just sayin' the same thing could happen with you two."

Aerith blushed and looked down at her interlaced fingers and she laughed. What Rinoa said was true – there was a similarity between the two of them and Cloud did seem certainly willing to go out of his way just to walk her home, sometimes even having to make his way across half the town to do so and yet, he'd arrive with a small smile on his face, only one for her to see.

Rinoa was right. Aerith thought, he was trying to see her more, even with keeping a busy schedule, but he'd always make time for her to end his day with a few moments together as they walked down the lantern-lit streets of Radiant Garden.

And unbeknownst to anyone else, that had become both of their favorite parts of the day.

Yuffie sighed and leaned back in her chair, "I don't know, Aerith. Sounds like the guy really has a thing for you," she finished with a cheeky smile.

Aerith's face reddened and she let out a light, happy sigh, "Let's hope so."

The trio of young woman were interrupted when the door to the living room opened and Squall stepped inside.

"There you are," Rinoa said. "I was wondering where you ran off to."

"I'm afraid these monster sightings are worse than we thought – a lot worse," Squall said with a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. "I was just with Cloud in the middle of town and another one appeared out of nowhere."

"You were," Aerith questioned and rose from the table. "What happened?"

"Not much more than a fight. We took it down easily, but they're drawing closer to the town and they're appearing more frequently," the brunette soldier explained. "Cloud knows that Ansem is looking into the monsters and the disappearing people, but with our town being threatened, they're just…not working fast enough to protect everyone."

The group of friends exchanged glanced at one another, before a determined look appeared on the flower girl's face.

"Then how about we start doing the protecting?"

The group looked at Aerith.

"With or without Ansem's support."

* * *

Cloud continued down the alleyway, his thoughts still wrapped in the disappearing people, the monsters appearing in town, but most of all, Aerith, who seemed to be the ray of light in the rest of the dark times that disturbed their small town.

Taking him out of his thoughts, Cloud stopped in his tracks the moment he saw another black feather fall from above and down into the alley, gathering at his feet.

"Again," Cloud questioned, his eyes widening, as he quickly scanned his surroundings to find the source of what was causing these strange occurrences.

Hesitantly, Cloud knelt down to the ground and slowly outstretched his hand towards the feather, his fingertips shaking as he did so, yet he couldn't wrap his head around why. He tightly clutched the feather in his grasp and then…

 _His mind was flooded with an implosion of bright light, scattered details and images coursing through his mind in a frantic fury too difficult to piece together. His mind traveled through a haze, darting through the passage ways of a dark chamber surrounded with beeping monitors and large containment pods, each spewing plumes of smoke and electric sparks. The image fractured and went to the next where he saw monsters, fiends just like the ones crawling about town, letting out cries of anguish deep within the hidden chamber. His mind's image then faded to that of a figure he couldn't quite make out, as they let out an accomplished smirk and walked up a stairwell that led past a 'No. 7 Reactor' sign. Then-_

The impulse of light left Cloud's mind and he was shifted back into reality, back into the alley of Radiant Garden, where he instinctively let go of the feather, as if it had drawn all the strength from him, and he collapsed to his knees.

He took in deep gasps of air, feeling as if his mind had been ripped in two. He didn't know what had come over him, but the hand that had grasped the feather couldn't stop violently shaking now, so much so that he had to draw up his other hand to keep it from its quivering tremble. He let out another deep gasp for breath, feeling his head heavy and his eyelids droop, as he tried to shake off the feeling.

'What was that,' he thought to himself. It was almost the same feeling he'd felt in the reactor when he'd been there with Barret a short time ago.

Then, he thought, 'The reactor…Everything I saw, it all happened… _there_.'

' _The monsters, that…'feeling' that's been taking over me…' he thought to himself and stared down the alley, '…and that dark feather, they're all connected, but by what?'_

Cloud didn't have an answer, but he knew that deep within the reactor, something would finally begin to help him understand a little more.

'I have to tell Squall.'

* * *

Back at their house, the group had been gathered at the table and were discussing the information that Ansem had given Cloud about the disappearances and the monsters that lurked within town.

"Ansem is only putting out information that he wants the people to know right now," Squall explained. "All I could get out of it was the information he'd given Cloud, but…who knows how much he and whoever else is in that castle is keeping to himself for the time being."

"I don't blame him," Yuffie said, leaning back in her chair. "If word got out about the increase in these disappearances, the town would go crazy."

"And then we'd have even more problems on our hands," Rinoa finished.

Aerith sighed and shifted in her chair, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, "Seems like the Unversed were only the beginning of our problems…"

There was a loud knock on the door then and Yuffie got up from her seat. She went over to the door and opened it. "Oh, Cloud…hi! How ya doin'?"

The flower girl opened her eyes and looked over to the door to find her blonde bodyguard standing there.

Cloud scratched the back of his head, "U-um, fine, I…guess? Is everyone else here?"

"Uh-huh! Come on in," Yuffie said, welcoming him inside and pointing them to the direction of the kitchen where their friends were gathered around the table. "Welcome to our honorary meeting as we discuss how our town is completely and utterly tearing itself to pieces in the most unforgiveable of ways!"

Cloud gave the girl a confused stare and looked back at the group sat around the table, a concerned look in his eyes.

Aerith pulled up a seat for Cloud and looked at him, worried, "Are you okay, Cloud? What's the matter?"

Cloud shook his head and looked at each of them, "I…I think I know where those monsters are coming from."

"Really? Where," Rinoa asked.

He scratched the back of his head and began, already thinking he sounded unbelievable, "I know it sounds crazy, but…I had a…'vision', I guess you could call it, of…of the reactor and these monsters being 'made' or 'produced' inside of it. I-I don't know."

"A 'vision'," Yuffie said, placing her hands on her hips. "You got all that from just some vision?"

"It was more than just that!" Cloud angrily defended, clenching his jaw.

"Hey," the flower girl quietly soothed him and placed her hand softly down on his forearm, her thumb tracing along his rough, but warm skin. "It's okay, Cloud. What else happened?"

The gentle effect the flower girl had on the soldier seemed to work, as the blonde had calmed down and turned to look at Aerith, a small apologetic smile on his face. "I'd…I'd been to that reactor before – on a mission and I just felt the most uncomfortable feeling there. Like something bad had happened there."

"Well, it sounds creepy. I wouldn't be surprised if bad things _did_ happen there," Rinoa surmised.

"After this vision…I don't think it could be mere coincidence," Cloud said. "It was the black feather that caused me to see everything…It has to be connected to the reactor somehow."

"A black feather," Squall questioned the blonde. "What does that mean?"

"I…I don't know," Cloud finally finished and lowered his eyes, feeling like he's not wrapped this whole group up with his own personal efforts and having other people help him with his problems was honestly the last thing the blonde wanted.

Cloud heaved his chest up and crossed his arms, "So, what do we do now?"

The group looked around the table, until all eyes fell on the flower girl when she confidently spoke.

"I'd say we go to the reactor and put a stop to whatever's causing this," Aerith said.

"What," said Rinoa.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Yuffie cheered.

"Think about it. We want to protect this town and if we know where the source of these monsters are coming from, we go there and stop whatever or whoever is causing this mess for our town," Aerith said.

"Aerith, I-I'm not too sure," Squall started. "Besides, those reactors are completely off limits to nearly everyone. They're the most restricted part of our town. What makes you think we can gain access so easily?"

Aerith grinned and looked over to Cloud, "Well, it just so happens that we have a royal guard with us who self-proclaimed to have gone to the reactor himself. Surely, he can let us in?"

"Do I have the capabilities of opening up access to the reactor? Absolutely," Cloud said. "Am I going to do it? Absolutely not."

"What? Why not," the flower girl asked.

"Aerith, those reactors are off limits. Taking anyone up there who shouldn't be is an extreme violation, I could lose my job and face…a lot worse," Cloud reasoned.

"Okay, then we leave at night when town's empty and no one would suspect it," Aerith reasoned back. "Besides, it's not like we're trespassing to start some trouble, we're trying to protect the town. It's just…sometimes some lines need to be crossed, sometimes overlooked."

Yuffie nodded and smiled at Cloud, "Hey buddy, you asked what were we gonna do and she gave you an answer _real fast_! That's what happens when you have a lady's help!"

"She's right," Aerith and Rinoa said in unison with one another.

Cloud sighed, but felt his lips twitch up at the flower girl's mix of determination and adorable stubbornness. He knew just by his past few interactions with Aerith, she was a young woman that, once she set her mind on something, there was absolutely no stopping her.

"Cloud, please help us," Aerith pressed on. "If not for us then, at least for the rest of the town. I promise we won't risk you losing your job."

Cloud sighed and shook his head, "It's…not…just that, though, Aerith."

"Okay. What else then," she asked him and moved forward to try and get his eyes to meet hers.

His gaze continued to shift from her even as she tried to get him to look towards her, "I…I…just…um…"

Aerith saw his cheeks become a flustered red and knew that whatever Cloud had brewing in his mind, he wasn't comfortable saying in front of all their friends – and him being comfortable in any situation had quickly become a priority to her. Without a word, she rose from her seat and brought Cloud up with her. She turned back to her friends and nodded, "You guys give us a minute, okay?"

Squall and Rinoa nodded, but not before Yuffie chimed in, "Now, now, no fighting, you two!"

Aerith had pushed Cloud to the far end of the living room, where she had plopped him down on one of the big couches and sat down next to him. She looked up at his eyes, as he still averted his gaze. "Cloud, what else is there?"

Cloud sighed and turned to her, his eyes finally locking with hers, "Aerith, this could be very dangerous. I don't want to risk _anything_ happening to you. My job is one thing, but if…if you got hurt, I don't know how I'd ever be able to live with that."

Aerith gave him a genuine, beautiful smile, "Well then, it's a good thing I'll have my bodyguard with me."

"It's…not that simple, Aerith," Cloud stammered and he shook his head, looking down at his hands. "I'm…I'm…not perfect. I'm not some hero. I'm just a guy that can make mistakes and fail and lose like every other normal person."

Aerith shook her head, a small frown appearing on her face. She placed both her hands on his strong shoulders, "Cloud, I'm not asking for you to be perfect or some hero. I don't need you to be some 'knight in shining armor' that has to be there to protect me every step of the way."

Cloud felt his lips twitch upwards when she spoke softly to him.

"I just need you to believe that I can take care of myself and whatever danger is out there. I've been doing it my whole life," she finished.

Cloud gave her a small smile, "I know you can, but I _do_ take my job as your bodyguard very seriously and Aerith, I…" He blushed and found himself fumbling for words, but instead found himself with an open mouth and not knowing how to piece sentences together. 'Why does she have this way of doing this to me…?' "I'm…I'm sorry for being so overly-protective about all this, Aerith. I just want you to be safe."

Aerith chuckled and placed her hands on top of his. "For what it's worth, Cloud, I _like_ overprotective bodyguards more than knights in shining armor…"

Cloud felt his blush deepen then, as he tried to fight off the large grin that was slowly emerging in his face.

She took his hands and pulled him up from the couch, "Come on, bodyguard. You know you won't be able to stop me or the other girls from going…We're all a bit too stubborn for our own good," she finished with a laugh.

"Alright, alright…fine," Cloud said, before flashing her a confident smile and crossed his arms in a cocky stance, "…but don't think I'm taking my eyes off you for a second."

Aerith turned back to him and gave him a flirtatious wink. "Whoa, easy, soldier. Save that for our date."

Cloud felt his cheeks redden even more, fighting a goofy smile once again, as, for the second time within a matter of a minute, she left him speechless and fighting for words yet again.

She led him back to the kitchen, where the others were still gathered around the table, pretending as though they hadn't heard much of the exchange between the soldier and the flower girl.

"So, what's the plan," Squall asked.

Cloud looked down at the flower girl and nodded, a small smile on his face, "We're _all_ going to the reactor to see what's causing all of this."

The group's eyebrows raised.

"Tonight," Aerith finished.

* * *

Night had long since fallen over Radiant Garden and it was well past midnight since the five had quietly crept from Cid's house and made their way through the town, only silent whispers exchanged between the group as Cloud led the group towards the reactor.

Cloud peered out from around the corner of one of the buildings. As Aerith was about to step out after him, he quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back behind the wall along with the rest of them. "Hold on…"

They peered out from around the wall of the house and down the lantern-lit alley to find two normal passerby's there. Nothing too risky, but they didn't want to take any chances. He waited until the two strangers had turned around the corner, before giving his group the signal to proceed. "Let's go," he whispered back to them.

And so, Cloud at the front followed by Aerith, then Yuffie and Rinoa, with Squall leading up the end, silently shuffled through the midnight streets of Radiant Garden, hiding their onward approach in the shadows as they neared the reactor.

Soon enough, they'd reached the fountain courtyard and ascended up towards the top of the district, where a gate stood that blocked off the restricted areas from the rest of the town.

Yuffie placed her hands on the gate, "So, the reactor should be just in here, right?"

Cloud nodded, "The reactors run in a circle around and a little beneath the castle. The No. 7 reactor is the first one on the path. That's the one we're going to."

"Why'd you go there before," Aerith curiously asked the soldier.

He dug around in his pocket to retrieve his access card, "That was back during the Unversed problem. One of them found their way inside there, a real tough one."

Rinoa sighed, "The more I hear about this place, the more I really think we're walking right into the middle of danger."

"We probably are," Squall smirked and took hold of her hand. "Not too late to turn back now."

Rinoa laughed, "Yeah, right. Not when I have you here. Besides, a little danger could even be a little _fun_!"

Cloud approached the gate and went to the access panel to the side of it. He typed in a few buttons on the code box to the side of the gate before sliding his access card through and soon, the gate unlocked.

"It's opened," Yuffie said, pulling the solid metal door open and wandering inside a bit too eagerly for the task at hand.

"Guess it's good to have a royal guard on your side," Squall smirked at Cloud.

The group slowly entered into the next chamber which brought them to the waterway passage that led from reactor to reactor in a great circle around the castle.

Cloud brought his hand up and helped Aerith over the pathway, before turning back to look at Squall and Rinoa. "So, Squall, you seem to be pretty good in battle. Some of those moves you did earlier today were the mark of a skilled swordsman."

"He's only been training as a swordsman since he was a kid," Rinoa teased. "He's one of the best in town."

"You ever been a part of Ansem's guard," Cloud asked.

"No, nothing like that. I've self-trained most of my life, actually," Squall said.

"Me, too," Cloud shot a nod back at him.

"I can't thank my skill all to that, though. For awhile, I used to work with SeeD and acted as a mercenary force for hire with a group of others," Squall explained.

"Same here," Cloud remarked again. "Well, not with SeeD, but you get the idea."

"Looks like we have a few things in common then," Squall smirked.

"Do I sense a friendly competition starting to begin," joked Rinoa.

Cloud shook his head and gave a low chuckle, "Please, competition's the last thing I need."

Aerith smiled at the group, seeing as how they all were very welcoming of Cloud into their unit of friends. It didn't feel awkward or forced and she had hoped that Cloud had felt the same way.

"And competition's the last thing I want. It's just interesting to meet someone who's had a pretty similar past is all," Squall finished. He went on, "I worked with SeeD for a long while and had some pretty rigorous training thanks to them. The program was sanctioned in by Ansem the Wise and we'd do whatever needed to be done – slaying monsters, protecting civilians, military support…I can imagine it's a lot of what you're doing now, Cloud."

Cloud nodded, "So, what happened?"

"Well, it wasn't too long before the SeeD program came to an end," Squall explained. "I guess Ansem thought it was no longer necessary and put an end to the whole thing – decided his personal 'guard' could get the job done."

The blonde gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head, "Ehh, sorry…"

"Hey, it's not your fault. Not like you ended the program yourself," Squall replied.

"Have you ever thought about becoming a royal guard," Cloud asked him. "I'm sure you'd do a really good job at it. I could put in a good word for you if you like?"

"Really?" Squall asked, a bit surprised. The last thing he expected from his meeting with Cloud and their current mission was to receive a job offer.

"Yeah, sure. Plus, with all the new monsters appearing, I'm sure Ansem wouldn't mind the extra help," Cloud explained.

"Yeah, well, thanks Cloud," Squall gave the blonde soldier a quick smile.

"Isn't this just up ahead here," Yuffie asked and pointed to the big metal building structure on the path before them.

"Yeah, this is the one," Cloud said, moving closer towards the reactor. "The No. 7 reactor. This is the place I saw in my vision, where all those monsters lurked…It will be dangerous inside."

Aerith reached out for his arm and gently squeezed it, "Hey, it's okay. Everything's gonna be alright."

Cloud nodded his head and gave a quick smile to the flower girl. He wanted more than anything to believe that everything was going to be alright, but after his last experience in the reactor, where he'd become crippled and disoriented just upon stepping into the place, he couldn't be so sure himself. Though, the way Aerith gently touched him and offered him her reassurance, it made him feel like he could get through anything.

The five continued to press on then, entering the reactor. It was just as dark and gloomy as they imagined. The walls and floor were dirty metal, lined with spewing pipes and chains that suspended the pathways from the ceilings above. It seemed like a maze of pipes, ladders and stairwells that stretched into every which direction.

Aerith spoke quietly, "So, this is where the energy is used to give power to the city?"

"I know, it seems weird seeing everything all up close," Yuffie added and looked over the edge of the platform she stood on and down into the deep abyss below, which seemed to stretch down into the darkness far beneath what they could see. "Whoa…"

They all peered over the edge and stared into the deep darkness beneath them. They all wondered what secrets awaited within.

"Cloud, what you saw, you think it was down there," Rinoa asked.

Cloud nodded, "Yeah...it has to be. From what I saw in my vision, I saw a…a 'figure' go up some stairs and all the monsters were kept down there. So, we'll just have to…to...ugh….URGH!" Cloud felt his mind begin to fill like it was splitting itself in two, just like before.

"Cloud, what's wrong?" Aerith turned to him, her eyes widened with concern. "Cloud!?"

Cloud felt his vision blur and his mind blank out, his entire body convulsing until he collapsed to his knees, his hands shaking violently against the metal floor. He was unable to control or stop the force that seemed to take his body over and he couldn't understand why.

Aerith rushed to his side and knelt down before him, "Cloud! Shh, it's okay. I'm…we're here for you."

"What's happening to him," Yuffie asked, seeing the blonde begin to lose control.

"I don't know…" Squall quickly said back.

Aerith gently rose a hand to Cloud's cheek, gently tracing it over his warm skin. The moment she touched him, Cloud's violent shaking instantly stopped, and he seemed to regain control of himself. He gasped for breath, the air taken out of his lungs as he tried to upright himself, but stumbled forward – Aerith right there to catch him.

She gently held him close to her as he recovered, his head buried into her chest. She snaked her arms around him and delicately traced her hands through his spiky-hair to soothe him. "Shh, it's okay, Cloud."

Cloud let out a deep breath against the flower girl's skin, as she embraced him warmly. He'd lost control over his entire self and he was unable to stop it – yet, _she_ was somehow able to pull him out of the confusion and force that took him over and return him to who he was. Thankful, he clutched her waist tightly and kept his head pressed to her body. He murmured a small whisper for only her to hear,

"Thank you, Aerith."

She slightly loosened her grip around him and delicately swiped away some of the spikes that had now drooped over his face. "Are you okay," she asked with concern in her eyes.

"Y-yeah, I think I'm fine now," Cloud said, slowly stammering back up to his feet with her help.

"What was that," Rinoa asked him.

Cloud shook his head, loosening his grip around the flower girl's waist as he stared at his gloved hands. "I…I don't really know. The same thing happened to me the last time I was here. Even earlier today, it happened. Something takes me over, I can't describe it…"

"Can you keep going forward," Squall asked the blonde.

Cloud confidently nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine. It's passed now."

Aerith looked at him concerned, tilting her head and leaning towards him with her hands behind her back.

He couldn't help but notice the deep worry for him in those bright, emerald eyes. He nodded and smiled slightly, reassuring her, "I'll be fine, _really_."

Aerith nodded and gave the blonde a small squeeze on the shoulder, before they continued their onward pursuit.

"Hey guys, look at this," Yuffie said, pointing out to a stairwell that descended downward at the far side of the reactor. "This looks like it must go all the way down to the bottom."

"Looks like it," Squall agreed, looking at the others. "You ready?"

The group proceeded towards the metal stairwell that led back and forth downward into the dark depths below. They proceeded swiftly, but quietly, as not to be detected and made their way down each of the steps that brought them closer to the bottom of the reactor, feeling as though they were tucked away somewhere far deep within Radiant Garden – a place where only a few had been, a place where only a few would dare to tread.

"What do you think is down there," Rinoa asked.

Squall shook his head and turned back to her, "Whatever it is, I think we're about to find out."

It wasn't long before the stairwell ended, and the group had reached the bottom. From what they could see, masked beyond the assorted series of pipes and columns that held the reactor together, there was a secret underground laboratory. The basement was filled with glass containment pods, computer panels and machinery that sparked and shelves stacked with vials and books about science and powers known to mankind.

"What is this place," Aerith gasped out, curiously looking around the secret lab, shocked that such a thing could have existed under their town this whole time.

"This is the place from my vision," Cloud said confidently. "I'm sure of it. I remember all of this."

The moved into the underground laboratory, passed the shelves of books and towards the empty glass containment units. They closely examined the empty spaces beyond the glass. From what they could see, there was some wear and tear on each of them. There were signs of a struggle from the inside of the units, there was glass breakage and claw marks on the metal doors to the container. These containment units had been used heavily by the looks of things.

"Specimen Containment Unit #5," Aerith said, reading a label next to that glass pod.

"And over here – Specimen Containment Unit #11," Yuffie said. "Here's Containment Unit #12…Unit #13. Geez, how many of these are there?"

"I don't know, but I don't feel so right being here now," Rinoa said, turning to Squall with great concern in her eyes, "I don't like the look of this."

Aerith looked at the containment units and went towards the shelves of books. From the book labels, she presumed that they contained knowledge on all different sorts of scientific practices, the powers of light and darkness and even books on controlling the light and darkness and even ways of splitting one from the other. It made her wonder how someone managed to acquire such books on this type of knowledge, which then made her mind wander to just _who_ was collecting this knowledge? Why did they seclude themselves off here and what experiments were they doing on the knowledge they had learned?

"This place…" Cloud began, "…this is where the monsters are coming from. They are being created here, somehow…"

"Created? How?" Yuffie asked Cloud. "You can't just create a monster out of nothing, can you?"

"You guys, I don't think these monsters were created from nothing," said Squall, before pointing to a pile of clothes discarded away in a junk pile at the corner of the room – clothes that belonged to humans. Dozens of them.

"What the hell," Cloud breathed out, seeing what the brunette had uncovered.

"Those people that went missing…" Squall said turning back to them, his eyes wide, "…they _were the monsters coming into town_."

A deep pit formed in all their stomachs, realizing that someone had been taking innocent people from their town, transporting them down here and then transforming and disfiguring them to become monsters, themselves. It was almost too much to bear, too much to comprehend at once and it left them with the overwhelming feeling of nausea.

Aerith looked up at the glass containment pod and pressed her hand against it, "Who…who could have done this?"

Then, there was the sound of a metal door sliding across the floor – the sound of an approaching figure as they drew in closer. Their slow footsteps echoed throughout the entire reactor chamber, as they drew nearer and nearer to the five friends.

"Someone's coming," Rinoa whispered to the others. "We have to get out of here or hide or _do something_."

Cloud looked up from where they stood, seeing the figure begin to descend the stairs that they had come down only moments ago and blocking off their only exit. "We could fight him and end him right here. There's five of us and hopefully only one of him."

"No, Cloud. That's too dangerous – _he_ could be too dangerous," Aerith tried reasoning with him.

Cloud sighed. She was right. If this was a figure with the knowledge of turning ordinary humans into monsters, they were clearly not someone in the right mind and someone that needed to be dealt with very cautiously. Someone with this power and knowledge, someone who was this _unstable_ beyond belief needed to be taken as a serious threat.

Not having another moment to spare, Squall took Rinoa by the arm and directed her and the others, "Hide. Now."

Without another word, Squall took Rinoa to the dark corners of the lab, hiding behind a stack of shelves and a pile of books.

"Come on," Cloud quickly whispered to Aerith and took her hand, swiftly running through the laboratory and hiding behind a series of containment pods, away from prying eyes. Together, they ducked down and huddled in close to one another, keeping an eye on the approaching figure.

"Wha-what about me," Yuffie squealed, looking around rapidly, feeling as though she was being zoned in on all sides, before she leapt up out of the secret chamber and into the dark corners of the room, where she crouched down and hid aside some computerized mechanisms.

They watched as the man stepped down into the main part of his laboratory. He had a cold, rigid face, partly masked by the large oval glasses he wore over his long, narrow robe. His hair was slicked back in a long, black ponytail and he donned a white laboratory coat.

"Who's that," Rinoa asked, peering over the pile of books.

Squall shook his head. The man seemed vaguely familiar but he couldn't tell for sure. Maybe someone he'd seen around town while he was in SeeD, but certainly not someone he knew by name. "I…I don't know."

The unknown scientist went to one of the containment units and pressed his hand against the glass inside, "Now then, let's see how this one is holding up." He went to the control panel to the side of the pod and began pressing a series of buttons.

Aerith peered at the man through the containment pods hiding them. "Who is that man?"

"I don't know, but he's someone that's causing some serious problems for our town," Cloud said.

The flower girl was about to speak again when something caught her eye in one of the containment pods just next to them. "Cloud…look."

The blonde peered over his shoulder and looked at the pod that Aerith was pointing to. Inside the glass frame, there was what looked like a wolverine of sorts, with a dark orange fur. Its tail was lit with an eternal flame of sorts and its' body was marked with scars. Tattooed on the side of the wolverine's body, there was a thirteen symbol.

"Another one of those creatures," Cloud said.

Aerith kneeled closer to the pod and met eyes with the wolverine. The creature sadly let its' head down to the ground, a deep sadness in his eyes as he looked at Aerith. Downtrodden, trapped and alone, it let out a small, quiet mewl and buried its' head over its' claws for any sign of comfort, a sight that nearly broke Aerith's heart. "I…I don't think this one's a monster at all, are you…?" she whispered out to him.

The red wolverine looked up and met eyes with Aerith yet again, seeing the young woman press her hands against the glass container. As a quiet sign of the little compassion that was given to it, the wolverine placed its' claw against the glass to meet with Aerith's.

They were taken out of their concern of the wolverine then, when a spark and an electric surge coursed through the laboratory. They turned their attention to the scientist who was now controlling one of the units. Within the unit, an elevator platform lifted a monster up into the unit from its' chambers below. The creature was like an ogre, with smily green skin and pointed ears, with sharp mangled teeth and bulging yellow eyes. The ogre was much taller and larger than any human could have been and was hunched over in the containment pod. It let out a fierce roar when it was summoned.

" _That's_ another one of those creatures," Cloud said to Aerith and pointed to the ferocious ogre. The ogre placed its gnarled claw on the glass of the containment pod.

"It's just an ordinary person, though," Aerith said.

"It's a human no more," Cloud whispered back. "There's no bringing it back to what it once was."

The scientist let out a sickening laugh that seemed to make all the stereotypes for mad scientists seem legitimate. He turned back from the control panel and spoke openly into the chamber for all to hear, "I believe we have some unwelcome guests…"

Rinoa let out a gasp when she'd realized that the figure had detected them the entire time.

The scientist continued with a dark, evil smirk, "Whether you show yourself or not, it will surely be your last moments. I thought you'd all make perfect additions to my monster roster, but…I've decided that's too generous of a fate for all of you."

He turned back to the control panel and pressed a button, which then caused the metal door to the containment pod of the ogre to slide open. The scientist stepped down from the control panel with a wicked laugh that echoed up through the reactor. With a simple turn over his shoulder, he commanded the ogre with ease.

"Kill them."

The ogre let out a roar in response and smashed its' heavy fists against the glass containment pod, shattering the prison to pieces and sending glass shards flying about in a frenzy as the creature was released.

The scientist's evil laughter continued up the stairwell in which he'd come, fully knowing the whole time there had been intruders and only arrived at his laboratory to put an end to them. With the ogre, another one of his monsters released, he couldn't care less of what became of the fates of the intruders, knowing that they were no match against any of the genetically advanced, transformed monsters he'd created out of his own twisted fantasy.

"Oh great, just what I needed to top off my day – death," Yuffie said, moving away from her hiding spot and out of the darkness.

The ogre flared its' nostril, using its' enhanced sense of smell to sniff out the set of intruders. When it had uncovered the peculiar scent from the human flesh that lurked nearby, it let out a ferocious roar and stomped down into the laboratory, sending shelves of books and vials tumbling to the ground.

Given that it it would only be a matter of time before the ogre was clued into their individual hiding spots, the blonde soldier decided to act first, think later – he was not going to get caught down here. Seeing Cloud take Aerith by the shoulders and move her up, Squall did the same for Rinoa and forfeited their hiding spots, meeting the ogre's eye with a loud roar and a spine-tingling grotesque chuckle from the unnatural beast.

"You really want to fight this thing," Yuffie asked, shouting from her spot to the others, keeping a close eye on every move the ogre made. "This thing is a human, isn't it?"

"It _was_ , but it's not anymore!" Cloud warned her, "It's an enemy now, we have no choice but to fight it off if we want to survive."

Aerith closed her eyes and nodded, not wanting to face the creature that was once a fellow member of their town – but that person was gone now and all that remained was the dark creature before them.

"Think we can take it down," Squall called out to Cloud and retrieved his sword.

Cloud gritted through his teeth and reached for his own sword, "Well, I don't think we're gonna be getting out of here so easily unless we take it down."

"Well, save some for me," Yuffie said, tossing her shuriken towards the ogre, where it landed in the demon's back. "I'm fighting, too!" The ninja proclaimed before running off towards the beast.

"Me, too," Aerith said, retrieving her staff and heading into battle with the ogre.

"Count me in," Rinoa said.

Cloud charged towards the ogre and ducked down just as the creature swiped at him, perfectly missing the attack and slashing the blade up the ogre's arm, watching as a putrid, green fluid spewed from the long cut. The ogre clutched his arm in pain and stared down the blonde-haired soldier.

As the creature stomped towards Cloud, the blonde was already preparing for his next attack when Aerith stood in front of him with her staff, dealing a series of heavy combo moves, disorienting the creature as stars formed in its vision.

It shook its' head in an attempt to clear the blur from his mind and it let out a grunt, stomping its heavy feet towards the two. It lifted its' fist up into the air and shot it down towards the two. Cloud quickly ran to Aerith and threw himself over her, the two of them tumbling down towards the ground, Cloud keeping himself hovering over on top of her smaller form to keep her safe and secure while he was dealt the brutal blow from the ogre's punch.

Cloud let out a rough grunt when the ogre's fist swept across his form. "Son of a bitch!"

Aerith looked over her shoulder and up at the bodyguard that held her firmly against his form, "You okay?"

Cloud nodded and gave her a reassuring smirk, "I'll be fine."

He brought the two of them up to their feet just in time to see Yuffie bounce off the creature's head, retrieving her shuriken from its' back before se sending it flying back through the air towards the ogre, it shooting across the laboratory like a boomerang.

In a haze, as the ogre felt like it was being attacked from all sides, the ogre relentlessly turned and thrashed about towards the collection of bookshelves, where it hunted its' next prey.

With a heavy push on its sturdy frame, Rinoa used both her hands to push over one of the bookshelves, sending the large piece to topple down over and crush the ogre with its' heavy weight. The books were sent toppling down over the ogre and the shelf was broken into several pieces when it collided with the ogre's huge form.

The beast let out a pained cry and slowly pried itself from underneath the tall bookshelf's frame. It clawed its' way out from underneath and let out another ferocious roar once it was freed, sending strands of saliva flying from its' mouth and into the air. The ogre shot a violent look towards Rinoa, sensing that she was the one that had toppled the heavy furniture on top of it.

Before it could make a single move, however, it was once again attacked on all sides from the others.

Squall came running up towards the ogre, his sword raised. "I don't think so."

With a single blow from his blade, Squall sliced through the ogre's arm, sending its' limb falling to the ground, where it shriveled up and dried.

Accomplished, Squall looked back up at the ogre as it clutched the remains of its bleeding limb in his hand. However, the brunette soldier's expression was soon met with one of surprise.

Appearing from the severed limb, an unusual growth started emerging within the ogre's body. It seemed to stretch out from within the ogre's skin where its' arm used to be. The skin peeled away and a new arm had regenerated in the missing arm's place.

"Okay, that's unsual…" Squall remarked.

"This thing wasn't even originally a monster and _that's_ what's unusual," Yuffie chastised, before sending her shuriken flying back towards the ogre, where it struck it square between the eyes.

Squall went to run towards the monster again with Cloud following through with an attack from behind, causing another gash along the monster's back, but to the blonde's dismay, the would healed itself and closed up almost immediately.

"What the hell did that insane scientist do to make these creatures so strong," Cloud gritted out and tried another attack, before the ogre tried punching him down again.

As Squall tried to continue another attack, the ogre caught him off guard and gripped the man's throat, lifting him up into the air. With ease, the ogre tossed Squall across the room, where the soldier crashed into a series of containment pods, smashing them apart, glass flying along the ground. Squall slumped to the ground, battered and bruised.

"Squall," Aerith cried out, before focusing the energy found somewhere within the blood that ran through her veins. A green mist appeared from within her hands then and she directed the energy toward her fallen friend. The green mist covered over Squall's form and lightly healed his bruises.

A moment later, the brunette soldier slowly rose to his feet and nodded at Aerith. He wasn't fully well yet, but with Aerith's light magic, he was much better off than he was mere moments ago.

Cloud took the opportunity to draw his sword out and slice through the ogre's leg, again severing the limb from the creature's body. However, just like before, a new limb grew back in the missing one's place.

"Ugh, this isn't getting us anywhere," Cloud tightened his grip around the handle of his sword. "What the hell are we supposed to do?!"

"Well, we have what we came here for," Rinoa called out. "We know what's happening with those monsters and what's been going on down here!"

"We can always just…RUN," Yuffie yelled out her suggestion.

Cloud straightened and looked at the ogre as it practically laughed at all of them, "I don't think it's going to let us."

"Then we continue this fight – and _finish it_ ," Aerith said, stepping out from behind Cloud.

"Aerith, how? That thing is practically invincible," Cloud said, standing in front of her, keeping himself between her and the ogre. The beast would have to go through him before it ever touched her.

"I think you mean ' _nearly_ ' invincible," Aerith said, determinedly placing her hand on Cloud's shoulder and giving him a reassuring nod. For a brief moment, they made eye contact and he saw the sheer determination within them. It was just another quick moment when he discovered just how much drive and will power the flower girl had within her – it made him believe she could do anything she put her mind to.

She moved out from behind Cloud and approached the grotesque ogre, as it stomped towards her. The creature almost seemed amused, like it was making fun of her just for the idea that someone like her could possibly defeat it.

Feeling a powerful energy begin to build up within her palms, Aerith focused all of herself, all of her power into this magical force that weaved its' way throughout her entire body. She sensed the green aura begin to glow from within her grasps, becoming more powerful by the second, so much in fact, it caused the flower girl's hands to shake and tremble.

Just as the ogre approached the girl, Aerith sent the green aura of energy directly up into the ogre. The creature writhed and tried blocking the attack with his arms, but it was futile – it was as though the entire aura of power completely consumed its form. Aerith struggled to keep the attack going, but she pursued, her arms thrust outward towards the creature, the powerful green aura emanating from her fingertips and striking directly through the beast.

The green aura chipped and ate away at the ogre's body, it's skin beginning to crack and peel as it was slowly, slowly reduced to nothingness.

Aerith pursued, seeing her attack was working, though it slowly drained her energy. She winced and grunted, feeling light-headed as the power of the attack seemed to knock the wind out of her, but she had almost done it. With one final impulse forward, she shot her hands forward, summoning up the rest of the power that she could give, as a huge orb of pure light energy was forged between the flower girl's hands, sent directly up into the ogre.

The light was so bright, the others had to shield their eyes from the flower girl's power.

When the light slowly faded from around the creature, they all saw that Aerith's powerful magic had reduced the ogre to nothing more than a pile of ash.

"We did it," Yuffie cheered victoriously.

Rinoa sighed and smiled, "That takes care of that then."

Cloud quickly made his way over Aerith, placing his hands on her shoulders and smiling brightly at her, "You…you did it! And here I thought I was the bodyguard," he finished with a small laugh.

Aerith gasped for air, still trying to catch her breath after the attack took the energy out of her.

Cloud looked at her, a small smile on his lips. "Hey, you okay?"

She nodded, "I'm...fine, Cloud. I-I'm…just…" Her eyes rolled back and her body went limb, as she fell forward into Cloud's strong arms.

"Aerith? Aerith!?" Cloud's eyes lit up with fear and concern when she fell into his arms. He securely held her form and lowered themselves down to the ground, where he clutched her body to his. His voice trembled, as his eyes felt an unfamiliar stinging in them. He gently shook her body, "Please, Aerith! Open your eyes," he practically cried, begging her.

"Cloud, it's okay. Relax," Squall said, kneeling down next to the blonde and Aerith.

"How the hell can you expect me to relax right now," Cloud said, holding the flower girl tightly against his chest.

"She's breathing just fine, Cloud. Look," said Squall, pointing to Aerith and sure enough, the flower girl's stomach rose and fell with every breath she took. "She just overexerted herself again…"

"Again?" Cloud looked at him in concern.

Yuffie nodded and looked at Cloud, "Yeah, spikey. Don't beat yourself up, Aerith knew what she was doing. It's just that her magic is very powerful – like super awesome magical powerful. So powerful they knock the wind outta her. Believe me, growing up with her discovering them, this ain't nothing unusual."

"She just hasn't learned how to fully control her powers yet, so when they get so great and powerful, they sometimes leave her like this…" Rinoa explained.

Cloud sighed out in relief and looked down at the flower girl in his arms. She looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there like that – though in the back of his mind, the fear of never seeing those beautiful, emerald eyes again didn't just sting his heart, but nearly tore it to shreds.

He was _never_ going to let that happen to her. Even if it meant costing his own life to prevent losing hers.

He brushed back a few of the long, brown bangs that had fallen over her face then, his heartbeat slowly returning to normal after the brief scare. He felt something stir within his heart, he didn't know what it was, but if there was any way to describe it, he'd call it – _the feeling of never wanting to be without her._

"Come on, we should all get back home. Aerith needs to rest," Squall said, rising to his feet. "I think we've all had enough excitement for one night."

Yuffie shrugged and nodded, "Well, at least we found out what was happening with those monsters."

"I'd say we got more than we bargained for," Rinoa continued. "Now, to find a way to stop that man from continuing his insane work…"

"That's the next plan," Squall finished, leading the three towards the stairs and out of the reactor.

Cloud gently picked Aerith up in his strong arms, one supporting her back and neck, while the other held her secure under her legs. He gently rested her head against his chest as he carried her towards the stairs and away from this dark place.

Ascending upwards, he gently smiled down at her.

"Don't worry, Aerith. I'm here with you," he whispered.

* * *

"What the #$% #' hell happened to you guys!?" Cid shouted as the group had returned to their home. "Do you have any #$ #$' idea what time it is in the # $%#' mornin'. It's nearly $# %$#' 3 A.M.! Where the #$ % ya been!? Ya got me waitin' around all $# #%" night worryin' about you dumbass pinheads!"

"No one asked you to wait for us, gramps," Yuffie said, raising her hands in defense. "Besides, isn't your bedtime like 6 P.M. with the rest of your ninety year old friends?"

"Why, you-" Cid clenched his fist at the ninja as she made her way up the stairs towards her room, "You're lucky I don't throw your goddamn ass outta the house, ya brat!" His attention then turned to Squall and Rinoa, who were followed by a new blonde soldier who carried Aerith in his arms.

"What the hell happened here," Cid said to them now. "Passed out again? Man, where the #$%^ were all of you? What you doin' that made the girl pass out like this?"

Squall sighed, "Eh, it's a long story, Cid. A _very_ long story…" He turned to the other soldier, "Cloud, would you mind taking Aerith up to her room and put her to bed? She needs as much rest as she can get."

Cloud nodded, but before he could leave, Cid approached him. "Ohhhh. Cloud, huh? Yeah, yeah! Aerith's told me a bit about you…"

"All good I hope," Cloud said.

Cid rubbed the scruff on his chin, "Yeah, yeah, sure. Jus' don't go $# #$%' messin' round with her or else I'll kick that spiky-headed ass of yours all the way into outerspace."

Cloud stared at Cid and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Right."

Rinoa leaned in and whispered, "Don't worry, Cloud. This is Cid's way of saying he likes you."

The blonde gave a small chuckle, "Well, good, but you have nothing to worry about from me."

"Glad to hear it, kid," Cid said, patting the blonde on his shoulder. "Now get that girl to her bed and let her sleep off the rest of that mighty fine headache she'll be gettin' in the mornin'."

Cloud nodded and ascended up the stairs, still securely holding Aerith in his arms. It wasn't long before he made his way down the hallway and arrived in Aerith's room, where he gently set her down on the bed.

The only light in the room came from the dim lamp at the side of the bed. Her room was quite simple – a bed, a wardrobe and a desk, but decorated with Aerith's own flowers. It was simple enough, but felt far more like a 'home' than anything Cloud had lived in.

Aerith slowly opened her eyes, feeling her head spinning as she slowly returned to her senses and her eyes focused. When they did, she saw her bodyguard staring back down at her.

"Cloud…" she breathed out and closed her eyes, still very tired and drained from the attack.

"Hey," he whispered back to her and pulled the covers over her form.

"Wha-what happened," she asked, concerned. "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's fine, all thanks to you." He smiled at her, "That monster was destroyed and we all made it back here in one piece. All we need now is for you to get better, okay?"

Aerith kept her eyes closed and nodded, almost falling asleep on the spot, Cloud's whispers almost soothing to her like a lullaby.

Cloud took a seat on the bed next to her and looked over her still form, "You…you really scared me, you know?" He bit his lip and he blushed, "When you collapsed, I…I don't think I've ever been more afraid in my life."

"Afraid?" Aerith said, opening her eyes and staring into his. "You were afraid?"

"Of course." Cloud admitted, honestly, even with a bit of pain in his voice. "Aerith, I…I was so scared something happened to you."

She bit her lip and looked away from his, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Cloud. I really am. I…I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to protect everyone…you…"

Cloud chuckled and brought his hand down to hers, "Hey, last time I checked, I thought I was the bodyguard here."

"That doesn't mean I can't protect you, too, you know," she said back to him with a weak smile and a small laugh.

Cloud laughed and got up from the bed, turning to her and smiling down at her. "You need to get your rest, Aerith."

"Okay, Cloud," Aerith said, snuggling herself underneath the warmth and softness of her covers and settling into bed with a sleepy, content smile on her face as the handsome soldier tucked her into bed. "Thanks for always looking after me, Cloud. You're the best."

Cloud blushed and nodded his head, "Hey, I'm your bodyguard, right? I don't mind looking after you, Aerith."

She smiled and slowly dozed off, a smile planted on her lips thanks to her blonde soldier. "Goodnight, Cloud…"

"Goodnight, Aerith," he whispered back to her, a smile on his lips, as well, as he quickly made his way to turn off her bedroom light and leave the young woman to sleep and recover.

He closed the door behind him and sighed, a happy and relieved smile on her face. She was fine. Everything was going to be fine.

"So, you really care about her, huh," Squall asked from the hallway, leaning up against the wall and looking at Cloud with a stern face.

"What?" Cloud looked at the brunette.

Squall shook his head and smirked, "Nothing, it's just…it's good to see. I wasn't too sure we were going to make it out of there today."

Cloud scratched the back of his head and nodded, "Yeah, to be honest, me too. What was that man doing creating those monsters from those innocent people. All those lives…lost and destroyed…"

"You know this isn't over, right," Squall said, looking at the blonde with determination. "We have to stop him before he does anything else to destroy this town. We have to find out who he is and what he wants…"

"I know that," said Cloud and he crossed his arms. "I can't help but feel like there's more to this still. To everything about that reactor and that man…"

"Well, don't think too much about it now, Cloud. It's late…or rather, very, very early," Squall said with a chuckle. "Hey, you must be tired. Why don't you crash here for the night?"

Cloud raised his eyebrow and let out a small laugh, "What? You going to share your little kid bunk bed with me?"

Squall chuckled and went into his room, tossing Cloud a pillow and a blanket. "Nah, don't want Aerith to get jealous…"

Cloud's cheeks turned crimson at the joke and the idea of sharing such close and comfy space with the flower girl.

"How's the couch," Squall suggested.

Cloud smirked and grabbed the pillow, "Sounds much better than a 3 A.M. walk home alone. Thanks."

Before Cloud could leave, Squall called back out to him, "Hey, Cloud. You never answered my question before."

"Hm?"

"You really care about her?" Squall repeated.

Cloud looked over to the door of Aerith's bedroom and turned back to Squall. "You know, it's funny. A few days ago, I went back to my place and felt just…really alone and down that night. I felt like I didn't care about the town, my damn job or even my damn self, but after meeting her and these last few days, I…" he finished with a blush and a small laugh.

Cloud looked up and smiled, "Of course I care about her."

Squall nodded and smiled. "Good, because she really cares about you, too."

The blonde bit his lip to hide his forming smile. "Thanks, Squall. That was…good to hear."

"You get some rest. We'll think of what to do next tomorrow," Squall said to him.

"Got it," Cloud finished, before making his way downstairs to take his spot on the couch, Aerith remaining deep in his mind and heart until sleep finally took him.

* * *

Deep within the bowels of the reactor, the man stood, surveying the minor destruction of his laboratory. "Fools…all of them…"

The cold scientist slammed his fists down on the control panel before him. "This isn't over…"

"I would say…it's just the _beginning_ ," a dark, heartless voice called out from the shadows.

The professor turned his attention to the dark shadows of the reactor, "Ah, so you've returned at last, my precious experiment."

"I am nothing of yours," the dark voice spoke again from the shadows. "Certainly much more than some simple experiment, too, Hojo. If I'm a mere experiment of yours, then frankly - _I'm the monster you can't control_."

Professor Hojo laughed and placed a hand on his chest, "Right, my most sincerest apologies – the Great Sephiroth."

From within the dark shadows, the one-winged angel appeared. The man had a cold, emotionless face that matched that of the devil's, with long, flowing white hair and a black, beating feathered wing that appeared from the back of his black soldier coat that covered his form. In his grasps was a legendary sword – the masamune, a blade deadlier than any other.

Hojo stepped down from the podium, his hands behind his back as he swiftly walked, "So, you've finally returned to your birthplace. What have you learned in your absence, I wonder?"

"That's no concern of yours," Sephiroth dismissed him, coldly. "What's more intriguing to me is…the soldier was here tonight, correct? I've been keeping an eye on him since my return."

"Indeed, he was here, with some…unexpected accomplices," Hojo answered. "I knew they were here the moment they arrived. If you'd come sooner, perhaps you could have even encountered _him_ tonight."

Sephiroth smirked, "Cloud Strife is his name, correct. The _other_? Hmph, I have every intention of encountering him when the time comes and when it does, it won't be good for anyone, for _him_."

"And what will you do once you finally have this little 'showdown' with Cloud," Hojo asked with a hint of wicked innocence.

Sephiroth turned to the professor and gave an emotionless, evil stare, "I'm going to do what I should have done from the very _beginning_."

"And what's that," Hojo laughed with evil glee.

Sephiroth smirked and outstretched his black-feathered wing.

"Destroy him and all he holds dear for what he _made_ me become."

Hojo let out a maniacal laugh that echoed through the No. 7 Reactor. The cold, darkness of the night loomed ahead for Radiant Garden.

* * *

Thank you all for reading! This chapter had a little bit of a Halloween theme/mood going on, must of been the holiday that inspired some of this chapter. I hope everyone had a good and safe Halloween! I hope you liked the new chapter!


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